fighters who could use a lead right hand (without first setting up the right with the jab) effectively. Ali comes to mind, particularly in the Foreman fight.
They used to call the lead right a sucker punch because normal circumstances dictate that you shouldn't be able to get away with it. Ali's of course was brilliant because he was so fast he could get away with it. Lead rights are often brought up as the bane to every southpaw. On that note I would recommend to everyone here to watch both fights between Yoko Gushiken and Pedro Flores. Flores was really just a journeyman who was lucky enough to be around when they created the jr. flyweight division. Under normal circumstances, without multiplying the divisions and the titleholders, Flores would never have seen a title shot. However, the stars aligned right for him because he knew how to throw a lead right on the southpaw Gushiken. Again, both fights are terrific and one can see the chilling effect of this particular punch on the southpaw stance.
Mayweather is the first name that pops up in my head when I think of a lead right. Kovalev also had a nice one.
Duran threw great lead rights when he wanted to like in his fight with Hagler. Marvin goes back to the corner after a few rounds and asks how Duran is landing his right on him. The Petronellis say "he's timing you Marvin." Hagler was tough but not the brightest bulb.
Go back and look at some film of Joe Gans (when he isn't taking a dive). He threw a beauty lead right.
Sometimes I wonder if the magnificent lead rights Ali landed flush on Foreman in the first round of their fight actually marked the beginning of the end for the latter. George's expression from that point changed, maybe that was one of the few times he ever felt fear.
Norman Mailer, with great flourish, focused on this in part of his book The Fight on Ali-Foreman. The audacity that Ali could get away with this, Mailer reasoned, confounded George.
Before one of his fights, ESPN did a sports science breakdown on PBF’s lead right with its analysts who basically broke down how fast that punch went from launch to land and the absolutely minuscule reaction time an opponent had to try to get out of the way of it (few did) compared to punches by other top fighters in that weight range. It was something along the lines of the same reaction time a baseball batter would have to hit a 150 mph fastball or something ridiculous like that. Basically when Floyd set properly and threw that right lead, the brain didn’t have enough time to process and do anything about it.
It's such a difficult punch to throw without giving any tells, either by foot or by shoulder. Floyd threw it like a master.
He could do it as a cross or uppercut with feints to set it up. This content is protected This content is protected Gans is the most impressive fighter of his era as far as technique.
