I think this is probably the best way to explain it... is fighter 'a' in his weight better than fighter 'b' at their respective weight? When talking about a resume being one factor, I'd also consider another factor to be what would happen if the two boxers you are comparing where naturally the same weight. IE - head to head without size advantage. Best background I heard on it was that the term originated in order for the newspapers to have a headline for Sugar Ray Robinson. They couldnt call him 'the best' because the casual fan would say that Joe Louis would have knocked him out given the size advantage. So they called him the 'pound for pound best' to get around it! The term is meant to have stuck from there.