Passionate boxing fans can and will argue all night long over who is the best fighter in the world pound for pound. The same can’t be said about the best boxing nation pound for pound. There’s no debate:

It’s Puerto Rico.

The Caribbean island, which officially is a U.S. territory but a nation of distinct and proud people, has produced champions at a rate far out of line with its modest population of roughly 4 million.

At the moment, for example, Puerto Rico has seven fighters rated by THE RING. That’s 1 per roughly 570,000 people – the smallest ratio of any country in the world. By comparison, Mexico, another boxing-crazy nation, has 17 rated fighters, or 1 per every 6.5 million people.

And Puerto Rico is no newcomer. Forty-nine native sons (including six currently) have won major titles over the past 70-plus years, according to Wikipedia. That is believed to be No. 3 on the list of all countries, behind only the United States and Mexico.

Panama, another mighty little nation, has 1 rated fighter per 660,000 but has only two current titleholders.

“We’ve had about 50 world champions,” said Mario Rivera Martino, THE RING’s 85-year-old Puerto Rico correspondent since World War II. “That’s a hell of a figure for a little island 35 miles wide and 135 miles long. It’s amazing.

“Yes, there are more world boxing champions per square mile in Puerto Rico than anywhere else.”

Boxing was practiced clandestinely in Puerto Rico until it was legalized in 1927, shortly after radio broadcasts of Jack Dempsey’s biggest fighters stirred interest in the sport on the island.

Puerto Rico’s first great fighters were Sixto Escobar and Pedro Montanez, little men with great skill who fought in the 1930s and ultimately reached the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Escobar (43-22-3, 19 knockouts) became the country’s first champion when he outpointed Harry Jeffra in 1938 to win the bantamweight belt.

Montanez (92-7-4, 54 KOs) never won a title but beat many hall of famers. The slugger built an international reputation when he went to Europe as a young fighter and knocked out many of that continent’s top lightweights in the 1930s.

As a result, the Puerto Ricans had a new passion.

“Puerto Rico has always been sports minded since the days of cockfighting,” Martino said. “Cockfighting is still legal in Puerto Rico. That was the big sport. Then, when Montanez and Escobar got into the picture in the 1930s, boxing fever took over in a big way.

“We didn’t have great runners or great tennis players or even great baseball players then. We didn’t have outstanding international figures in any sport until Escobar and Montanez. I would say they led to success in other sports.”

Still, the Puerto Rican pound-for-pound dominance didn’t take hold until Carlos Ortiz came along in the late 1950s, followed by Jose Torres in the ’60s and an explosion of champions from the island beginning in the ’70s and continuing today.

All together, Puerto Rico has produced six hall of famers – Escobar, Montanez, Ortiz, Torres, Wilfredo Gomez and Edwin Rosario – as well as many other top fighters. And that doesn’t count those associated with the country but born in the U.S., such as Wilfredo Benitez.

Plus, more recent champions probably will join their compatriots in the Hall. That would include knockout artist Felix Trindad, once-sublimely skilled Hector Camacho and Miguel Cotto, who faces Joshua Clottey on Saturday in New York.

It’s no wonder the Puerto Ricans love their fighters as much as or more than any other athletes.

“When Trinidad was at his biggest, he was beyond any dought the outstanding figure in Puerto Rico — period,” Martino said. “He compared favorably with Roberto Clemente, who was a god in Puerto Rico sportswise. That’s how people here think of their fighters.”

The fact Puerto Rico has six current titleholders (among 68 in the major sanctioning bodies) and seven fighters ranked by THE RING is an indication that boxing on the island is as strong as ever.

Martino was with the retired Rosario when he was asked recently why Puerto Ricans have such heavy hands in the ring. Before he could answer, Rosario bellowed, “It’s the rice and beans, the rice beans.”

Well, it’s more than that. Obviously, boxing is an integral part of the island’s fabric, particularly because soccer isn’t as big there as it is in most countries. The boxing tradition, one great fighter after the other, seems to feed on itself.

Martino said that there are at least 35 thriving boxing gyms in Puerto Rico, which again has a smaller population than many of the world’s big cities. And, he said, each of the gyms has good, experienced trainers who compare favorably with any in the world.

Plus, the government supports the amateur boxing program by providing healthy stipends to its top prospects so they can focus on developing. Dozens of Puerto Rican boxers have competed in the Olympics and six have won medals.

Thus, the island continues to produce talented and exciting young fighters like current sensation Juan Manuel Lopez. And there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. Little Puerto Rico does it better than anyone else, or so the evidence suggests.

“That’s right,” Martino said. “No question about it.”

Michael Rosenthal’s column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached at [email protected]