Anyone know any great body punching southpaws to watch? It seems to me most are head hunters, which probably makes sense due to the angles but there has to be a few decent ones.
Check out Errol Spence Jr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=981l9YDUQKI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CB1xa2ZLfI
The problem with body punching as a southpaw is 2 fold. #1 Anatomy: the organs aren't symmetrical. A left to the body grinding into the liver hurts a hell of a lot more than a right to the stomach. There are entire sub disciplines of martial arts centered around the concept of attacking your opponents liver, see Bas Rutten. This is one inherent weakness of a southpaw. We lead with our liver. #2 Angles: Generally most southpaws will take the outside angel. The outside angle is not conducive to throwing left hooks to the right side(liver side) of your opponents body. If you want to effectively attack the body from a southpaw stance safely you have to develop your inside angle. Using the inside angel is a far rarer and harder to develop skill. Even amongst the elite there are very few southpaws in history that were skilled at using the inside angle. Throwing left hooks to the liver is more effective from the inside angle, which most southpaws do not use. Without the inside angle one approach that is very effective is to simply change to an orthodox stance when inside. Close the angles and use your left hook to both the body and head. If you want to stretch the rules a little and use the right effectively to the body watch some videos of Sugar Ray's kidney and spleen shots, not that I'm condoning that.
^^ Awesome bro. Thanks. To be honest though, i like the errol spence vid cus the guy throws straight lefts to the body. Me personally, i used to throw left hooks to the body and would always end up smashing my ****ed up thumb against my opponents elbow or miss wide cus of my reach. And yea kidney shots rock, when your not on the receiving end that is
Sergio Martinez. Majority of his KO´s come from him breaking his opponents down and he starts with the body.
The left to the body is a common number one weapon for a southpaw. Bute, Lomachenko, Rigondeaux etc. When I boxed it was my number one punch as a southpaw, 9 times out of 10 when I hurt someone it was with that punch. Easy to whip into the liver.
Its a great weapon but in general you see it with a few elite southpaws that have learned to work the inside angel. But you can go to many gyms and not find a single southpaw who works the inside angle. And even amongst the elite boxers it is still a rare skill. I've been a frequent critic of trainers even so called "elite trainers" who dont know how to teach southpaws. They think that all a southpaw has to know is to take the outside angle. Or worse they teach a southpaw to box like an orthodox fighter. I know I'm preaching to the choir. But you are right the left to the body can be a southpaws most effective weapon especially when you are giving up foot-speed to a quick opponent. After all an orthodox fighter thinks that boxing a southpaw is all about taking the outside angle. When you give them the outside angle and hurt them badly with lefts to the body it quickly messes with their head because they dont know what to do.
Sheeeit....Rigo and Bute come to mind immediately. I'm orthodox but sometimes I switch southpaw JUST to land that shot. I've found you have to really commit to it if you want it to land. I've been on the receiving end of a few southpaws who use it and it is really hard to escape. Just throw it.
Also seen Austin Trout wind up for a left uppercut to the head and turn it into a straight left to the body. Tricky.
Good stuff. Jirov developed that sweeping underhanded hook/uppercut to land the liver shot from longer range and/or while at an outside angle. He would always feint to the head with the jab before throwing it to buy him that time since it was a 'long' punch to prevent the counter. Vicente Salvidar is one of the best lefties to watch for taking the inside angle and a savage body attack (Ramos fight jumps to mind), Bute was good at it, Pacquiao especially in the Bradley fights (at least one of them) kept taking the inside angle to beat him to the punch. Orzubek Nazarov great body puncher. SSR Edit - If you want to watch a southpaw who understands and utilizes angles including inside ones Calzaghe is top notch while Lomachenko is hi-technology.
The shot to the liver, while a damaging punch, is far from the only effective body shot. The right hook or uppercut to the floating rib- the last, short one on the left side- is a very painful shot and a natural to a southpaw. Also, every southpaw should develop and master the short, straight left hand counter to the solar plexus and/or the heart.
