Southpaw.....who really stood out ?

The commentator was right. Two southpaws almost never make for a good fight. There are occasional counter examples, ala Williams-Martinez I, but southpaw vs southpaw fights usually result in a snoozer filled with headbutts, punch and clutch action, and general tedium.

Mustafa Hamsho is an example of a southpaw who stood out because being a southpaw was the only positive attribute he had besides his (pre-Hagler II) titanium chin. He was so awkward that he was able to twice scrape his way to being the number one middleweight contender by beating far more talented fighters who simply couldn't cope with Hamsho's bizaare stance and style.

I'll work on answering the other ninety nine questions in your OP when I get the chance.

 

Sublime: Whitaker, Saldivar

Average skills/good banger: Marvin Johnson/Cornelius Boza-Edwards

Best Feet: Camacho maybe? He was certainly the fastest in handspeed.

Best defense: Whitaker, certainly

Good journeymen/fringe contenders: Frank Fletcher/Robbie Sims

 

There are some real nice southpaw vs southpaw fights out there....I started a thread on it about 2 yeears ago...here is the link with some decent sp vs sp action....

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283125

Not much time right now....but for now my favorite southpaw Vicente Saldivar

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd5c2-rY5WM[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Djl3quTJ8Y[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6YYpRqOl6E[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GzdslTTQEo[/ame]

 

Oh........Philly, seeing you here reminds me of another sublime one.......Tyrone Everett.........

 

Here is one that I was reminded of by power punchers post....

3:20 for the KD 3:40 for the comedy:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKdRciJyloM[/ame]

I love it:
Tarver KD's Harding
Ref: Are you OK
Harding: Yeah
ref: Are you sure:
Harding: I'm from PHILLADELPHIA!

 

Hearing that name I always instantly recall Everett vs Escalera...

 

Me too, chiefly because that's the only fight of his I've seen. Without question, the single-worst decision I've ever seen in boxing. No judge is that bad. They were clearly bought that night.

 

Saldivar pioneered the left hand to the pit of the gut that became a staple for Tarver, Moorer, and now Bute.

 

When southpaws go to WAR! Great stoush.

 

Sims is Hagler's half-brother. Good contender, but apparently didn't take boxing as seriously as his famous sibling.

Here's a fun one for ya. Terrific fight between him and Iran Barkley, who would of course go on to some fame of his own later on with Hearns and Duran.....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s8oxUqBAFc[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZIu4cSHxI[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPmgV51awgs[/ame]

 

Hamsho moved with the grace and speed of a skyscraper shifting in its foundations during a mild earthquake but his awkwardness and stance allowed him to beat some solid guys like Bobby Cyz, Benitez, Parker, and others.


Kassim was one of my favorite southpaws of the last decade. People forget what a wonderful fighter he was in his prime, before his enthusiasm for cannabis caught up to him and he wound up getting beaten up by Bundrage, Golovkin, and Martirosyan.

You don't see many southpaws use 'up jabs' aside from Whitaker, but Kassim used to paw a double jab before coming over the top with a lethally accurate overhand left. He was brilliant at using very subtle laterl movement to corner his opponents before he unloaded with barrages of hard, carefully placed punches. At one point Ring Magazine even rated him the finest combination puncher in the game.

If you're interested in learning more about Ouma, check out his fights with JC Candelo, Verno Philips (both), Bojorquez, and Freddie Cuevas. He could have been a hall of famer, but he was so scarred by his life as a child soldier in Uganda that he relied on weed to suppress terrifying nightmares and other symptoms of his post traumatic stress syndrome. Naturally, the heavy drug intake eroded his skillls and cardio.