Most of you use spiral notebooks, can openers, and scissors with relative ease…Us southpaws don’t have that luxury however because those things are built for the common right handed person. But being left handed does have its advantages…Especially in combat sports like boxing. With our Southpaw Week continuing here at the Nerd Punch, I’m going to break down the key differences between a southpaw fighter and a common orthodox one.
Common Advantage
With most people in the world being right handed, they’ve become accustomed to seeing everything done one way. In boxing, however, when an orthodox fighter faces a southpaw they’re already at a disadvantage. The reason for this is the stance of a southpaw. When an orthodox boxer faces a southpaw it’s essentially like facing a mirror image, and it takes a lot of getting used to.
The orthodox boxer gives the advantage to the southpaw by having to change every offensive and defensive angle when facing him. An example of this is circling. Orthodox boxers learn from their first day of training to circle to the right, or “away from the power” because orthodox is the most common style you’ll see. Against a southpaw though, he’s always faced orthodox fighters also, so you won’t be able to surprise him with anything he hasn’t seen before. An example of this is the big disadvantage of having to learn to circle the opposite direction. Everything an orthodox boxer is taught to remain safe in the ring is now in question. Out of habit it will never feel natural for an orthodox fighter to circle into what is usually supposed to be danger. But against a southpaw they’ll have to accept doing this and it will never feel natural to them. There’s ways for orthodox fighters to try and counter this, but unless they’ve mastered how, it’ll usually never work out.
Stance
A southpaw will always lead with his right foot, always keeping to the outside of the orthodox fighter’s left foot. If an orthodox fighter does not contest the foot placement and always moves forward they will be hit at will with a straight left hand. That isn’t the only problem though, a southpaw will continuously be able to land his punches with either hand as long as they keep their distance on the outside. The counter for this is to again, circle to keep their left foot outside the southpaw’s right foot. This is the main way the orthodox fighter can gain the advantage as long as they remain on the outside. This renders a southpaw unable to throw effectively.
This allows orthodox to gain certain “blind spots” for a left hook. For as long as the orthodox fighter is positioned this way, the southpaw’s guard is “broken” and he is then forced to change angles to land with his left hand.
Movement
The negative for orthodox fighters is having to stay in motion constantly to gain positional advantage. This is something any southpaw is ready for since they’ve seen it their entire life. Predictable movement allows a southpaw to establish an easy jab which then leads to the right hook. This counters the orthodox style by minimizing their blind side.
Orthodox opponents then don’t get enough time to use their advantages since the southpaw is already expecting it. For this reason, the orthodox fighter needs to keep changing his style to keep a southpaw guessing.
Changing angles and stepping to the right while mixing in combinations can be effective in throwing the southpaw off.
The Right Hand
Every style has its kryptonite, the right hand can be kryptonite to a southpaw. Considering how every angle is “awkward” for an orthodox fighter, leading with the left just isn’t a wise decision. The lead left of an orthodox fighter will usually get tangled with a southpaw’s lead right. This is why southpaw’s can out jab any orthodox fighter, no matter if the orthodox fighter has more “skill” or not.
Even though the jab battle is usually always a loss for an orthodox fighter, he does have the advantage by using combinations that lead with the right. Yes, this sounds quirky and weird of what is normally effective, but the southpaw stance is more open to the right hand than it is to a left hand. The disadvantage for the orthodox fighter is that this is the only threat a southpaw really needs to concern himself with.
By beginning an orthodox combination with the right hand, the southpaw doesn’t know if the right hand is a set up or a power shot. This is why orthodox opponents have the most success by firing off right hands more than jabs. It is the most effective punch an orthodox fighter can throw with the best chance to land. It’ll also force a southpaw to think more about what his next move will be to avoid the right and possibly fluster him enough to fall for something else…Like a left hook.
“Southpaw Theory”
The basic laws every southpaw lives by…Also known as the “Southpaw Theory”
* Orthodox fighters are simply not used to throwing punches and defending punches against southpaw fighters.
* Everything orthodox fighters do will be less effective against their southpaw opponents.
* The orthodox fighter will always be at a disadvantage against a southpaw because he doesn’t train regularly for southpaw opponents.
My Top 5 All Time Favorite Southpaws
Now these aren’t necessarily the all time best southpaws of all time, these are just my all time favorites.
* Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-6-1, 25 KOs) – Just watch Wright vs Trinidad, Mckart, and both Mosley fights and you’ll see why he’s my all-time favorite. A master of defense that made his opponents look quite awkward in the ring behind his jab that basically controlled every fight. He hurt ticket and pay per view sales because of his style, but this southpaw was definitely one of the “special ones”.
* Prince Hamed (36-1-0, 31 KOs) – Arguably the greatest featherweight of all time. His blinding speed behind his jab and his powerful left hand made Prince Hamed a fighter nobody will ever forget. He made FIFTEEN title defense in 5 years until his only career loss. That loss was against another legendary fighter named Marco Antonio Barrera.
* Joe Calzaghe(46-0-0, 32 KOs) Everyone says Lennox Lewis was the greatest British fighter of all time and that is very difficult to dispute. But, pound for pound, Joe Calzaghe is truly the greatest fighter Britain ever had in the sport of boxing. The southpaw known as “Super Joe” was a super middleweight king and his record showed it, twenty one straight title defenses and a perfect career record.
* Pernell Whitaker (40-4-1, 17 KOs) Although his knockout numbers aren’t staggering to look at, the man known as “Sweet Pea” was one of the greatest pure boxers of all time. Every time he fought he turned in a masterpiece of a performance behind impervious defense and arguably the prettiest southpaw jab in boxing history.
* Marvin Hagler (62-3-2, 52 KOs) Oh, the Marvelous one…He’s number 5 on my list because I had to save the best for last. Bobby Watts and Willie Monroe in January and March of 1976 were the only losses in the historic career of Marvin Hagler. This southpaw went on to win 36 more fights against some of the best middleweights of all time until the historically controversial split decision loss against Sugar Ray Leonard.
