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Pound-for-pound is the term used in boxing
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
, mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts is a Contact sport combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions....
 and other combat sports to describe a fighter's value in relation to fighters of different weight classes.

s often said to have been created to describe world Welterweight
Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system....
 and Middleweight
Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or Boxing weight classes, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s....
 champion Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson was a professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances at the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight....
. Robinson is one of the most accomplished fighters of all time, but his supporters realized that, while he could beat anyone in his own class, as a Middleweight he would not be able to beat a top Heavyweight
Heavyweight

Heavyweight is a division, or boxing weight classes, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing Organization....
.






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Pound-for-pound is the term used in boxing
Boxing

Boxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar human weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds....
, mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts is a Contact sport combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions....
 and other combat sports to describe a fighter's value in relation to fighters of different weight classes.

Origin of the term

It is often said to have been created to describe world Welterweight
Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system....
 and Middleweight
Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or Boxing weight classes, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s....
 champion Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson was a professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances at the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight....
. Robinson is one of the most accomplished fighters of all time, but his supporters realized that, while he could beat anyone in his own class, as a Middleweight he would not be able to beat a top Heavyweight
Heavyweight

Heavyweight is a division, or boxing weight classes, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing Organization....
. Hence, Robinson was called the pound-for-pound best without being expected to beat much larger fighters, under the belief that he as a Middleweight was still a better quality fighter than any fighter fighting at heavier or lighter weights than him.

Other uses

It can also be used to describe how any two things compare when bearing in mind their varying quantities. For example, a tin of tomato
Tomato

The Tomato is an herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins Nicotiana, potatoes, aubergine , chilli peppers, and the poisonous Atropa belladonna....
es weighing 250 g and costing $2.50 is more expensive, pound for pound, than one weighing 500 g and costing $4 (as the former costs $1 per 100 g and the latter $0.8 per 100 g).

The term has also become something of a cliché
Cliché

A clich? or cliche is a saying, expression or idea which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning, especially when at some earlier time it was considered distinctively meaningful or novel, rendering it a stereotype....
, as it is now used to describe numerous other things apart from boxing.

See also

  • Ring Magazine pound for pound
    Ring Magazine pound for pound

    This table lists the current pound for pound rankings of The Ring magazine , which some boxing experts and fans regard as an authoritative source for ranking the best pound-for-pound boxing in the world....