Those of us who love boxing, the real hard core fans, seem to get quite caught up in that magical, almost mythological boxing cliché known as the Pound for Pound. It is a great source of discussion; if you want to break the ice in a boxing chat room, just ask, who is your P4P? If you want to know who your friends really are, send an email asking, who is your P4P? Call up a boxing buddy and ask him or her, same question. Boy!, Pandora's box will come unglued in a hurry, and more than likely, although we are all dealing with the same cast of characters, we will have great difficulty agreeing on who is the top dog, and even more importantly, why.

Well, I am not one to shy away from controversy, (news flash, right?), and this P4P thing just fascinates me; it angers me too, when I hear people name someone other than who I think should be P4P. Goodness, my #1 choice seems to be so obvious, and so deserving, why doesn't everybody see it MY way?

So, in the interest of setting the record straight, I set out to write this P4P piece. But, hold up! I want to do my research; I want to find the guidelines, the criteria for this P4P issue. Surprise, surprise, there is no such thing! Hmmm....Now what do I do? I have heard so many versions of what a P4P is or should be: it's about performance, it's about excitement, it's about competition, and it's about challenge. Who is to say what it's about, really? Well, for the sake of this article, I am. Each person who reads it, will have his or her own opinion, and it is now very apparent to me that the discussion will not be resolved any time soon. But, won't it be fun trying?

I think it is safe to say that the top three names that come to mind when true boxing fans get together and concoct their P4P are, in no particular order, Mosley, Trinidad, and Jones. Anything beyond those three makes the water very muddled. No Mayweather, Judah or Hopkins in the top three for me. Not even Oscar ranks up there in my book, so after much soul searching, I feel good about these three men: Shane Mosley, Félix Trinidad and Roy Jones, Jr.

His Sweetness, "Sugar" Shane Mosley, is without a doubt one of the most exciting and talented guys in the game; he brings many positives to the sport: speed, classy style, power, heart. Who could ask for more than that? Were this a popularity contest, Shane might take all the marbles, hands down. He has a most engaging smile, great personality, eyes to die for, the body of a God, but wait, wait...I am getting side tracked, aren't I? How do we decide whether this man is our P4P #1? I say, let's look at his record, let's check out the level of his competition.

Shane Mosley made his pro debut in February of 1993, at age 22. Became a champ at age 26, when he defeated Philip Holiday for the IBF Lightweight title. He defended this belt 8 times, and has only had two non-title fights since being crowned in 1997. In June of 2000, he moved up, challenged and unquestionably defeated a not so golden Oscar de la Hoya, and he has successfully defended that title, issued by the WBC, three times, winning all three fights via KO. The last three opponents he faced had a combined loss record of five fights, and Shane has not fought another champion since his dismantling of Oscar de la Hoya. Shane fought twenty three times before becoming a champion, for a total of ninety two rounds.

On with the show. Let's now look at the man who at one time, owned this P4P title, no questions asked. Roy Jones, Jr., with a record of 45-1-0, 36 KO's, 32 years old, 5'11" with a 74" reach. Made his debut at age 20, and fought for his first belt, a vacant IBF Middleweight title, in May of 1993, four years after having made his first pro appearance. He claimed the leather by beating one Bernard Hopkins, who was 22-1-0 at the time. Roy fought three non title fights after having been crowned, and went on to defend the Middleweight title four times.

In November of 1994, Roy became the IBF Super Middleweight champion by defeating James "Lights Out" Toney, in what many believe to have been the cusp of Jones' career. He looked strong, and very mean, beating a champion who was 44-0-2 at the time, and full of venom. Jones then defended this title five times with one non-title defense in between those fights.

In November of 1996, he took possession of the WBC Light Heavyweight belt by beating Mike McCallum, (49-3-1) in a unanimous decision. He went on to defend this belt nine times, with one non-title fight in April of 1998. Along the way, he also became the holder of the WBC, IBF, IBO, WBF, IBA and NBA titles.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Félix Trinidad. Born in January of 1973, 5'11", 72" reach, with a record of 40-0, 33 KO's. Tito made his debut in March of 1990, and had his first title bout only three years later, June 1993, after having fought nineteen times, for a total of thirty eight rounds. Tito was twenty years old when he became the IBF Welterweight champion, having defeated then champion Maurice Blocker in two rounds. He had one non-title fight in 1997, while defending his belt successfully fifteen times. Enter Oscar de la Hoya, from whom Félix acquired the WBC belt as well. He then fought for and won the WBA Light Middleweight title, defended it twice and moved on to challenge WBA Middleweight champ William Joppy whom he starched in May of 2001.

In as much as I have the utmost respect for Mosley and his ability, I think he just became the second runner up, by virtue of sheer numbers. It's between the last two, isn't it? Let's re-examine the data, see what we can come up with.

Tito became champ at an earlier age than Roy, took less time to fight for his first title, too; and while Roy dueled for a vacant, Félix challenged a seasoned champion in Maurice Blocker. Out of forty fights Tito has to his credit, twenty have been title fights; out of those, only two have gone the distance. Since becoming a champion he has only had one non-title fight.

Jones has had five non-title fights to his credit. Seventeen title defenses, with six of those going the full monte. Roy made his debut at age 20; at age 20 Félix was already a champion. Since setting the record straight with Montell Griffin in August of 1997, Roy's opponents show a combined 16 losses to their records. Since same time period, Trinidad's opposition combined for eleven losses, and five of those he fought in that time frame were champions.

On numbers, Félix Trinidad takes the edge. But, let's not be so cut and dry, let's go to the visual. The flair, the flash, the ring generalship, the power, the HEART. Roy Jones Jr. is without a doubt one of the most talented fighters that ever walked this planet. But, is that enough? Is that the measuring stick for a P4P? I dare say not. Jones hasn't KO'd an opponent, weak as some of them have been, since he did away with Virgil Hill in a non-title fight in 1998. There have been TKO's, yes, but no KO's.

Trinidad's demolition of William Joppy, Fernando Vargas and Mamadou Thiam, although TKO's, were merciful stops, either one of these guys would have ended up getting hurt had the bouts not been called. Hard to compare that to, for instance, the stoppage of Jones vs. Eric Harding. There is something about a puncher, a KO artist, it's like watching a home run hitter, who may strike out three times but will win the game with a grand slam in the ninth inning, bringing excitement and a sense of pride to his team and its fans.

There is something to be said about a guy who moves up in weight, and challenges champions. A guy who has had one sole non-title fight since becoming champion eight years ago. There is no question, in my mind at least, that the quality of his opposition is far greater than that of Jones. Ultimately, after all the dissecting is done and over with, we must really search our souls and accept the facts, the truth. To me, the determining factor comes down to HEART, and I don't know of anyone in the business who can outpoint Félix Trinidad in that department.

Roy Jones, Jr. has all the talent in the world, but somehow he has lost his edge, his heart is not in this game anymore. He is a champion who doesn't want to take on dangerous challengers. If Félix Trinidad had decided that he could only fight in Puerto Rico, more than likely he wouldn't be the champion that he is today. Félix has traveled extensively to challenge, to defend, to do whatever has been necessary to become and stay a champion. Roy has opted to take the high road to nowhere.

Some will argue that he has his reasons, and maybe he does, but are those reasons Trinidad's fault? Should they get in the way of establishing who the better man is? I say no, they are not. Therefore, and after careful and unbiased consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the #1 spot in my P4P list will be reserved for a humble young man from Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico, named Félix "Tito" Trinidad.