In celebration of the Big, Sloppy (but Effective) Overhand Right

All hail the BSOHR! :bowdown

Favored by Siri Salido, El Apóstol Maussa, Bang Bang Oloukun, Tank Williams (who calls his variant "the conch punch"), K9 Bundrage, and countless other journeymen...

It has been referred to as "the casting punch" in MMA, popularized by Fedor Emelianenko...
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The southpaw equivalent, of course, would be the BSHOL, the weapon currently favored by Haitian-Canadian glass cannon prospect-contender Adonis Stevenson...

There is nothing like a well-executed BSOHR/L to disrupt an opponent's rhythm, startle them into a reset or even outright retreat, or to score the odd from-the-ether kayo.

This is a crazy punch, however, and requires an individual who's at least a little off in the head to attempt it. Just have a gander at the who's-who above, the sweet science's own Arkham Asylum. :yep

Mainstream boxing coaches might incorporate a regular overhand right into a fighter's arsenal, but will caution that it should be used sparingly, as it can leave you wide open for a short counter left hook, or an uppercut, or a 1-2 - really any tool at the opponent's disposal that he feels like using to punish you. Most coaches, however, will instruct you to keep it a short arc, just a little hop as though skipping a stone on a pond to "jump" the hurdle of your opponent's guard, prioritizing elevation of your elbow to either level with or just above the plane of your fist, and otherwise rotating your body through just as you would on a right cross - the critical difference being that your head falls off that center-line (to your left if throwing an overhand right, and to your right if throwing an overhand left) and that rear elbow gets popped into an elevated position to give you that "hop".

That isn't a BSOHR/L, though. :bart A conventional overhand rear-hand shot is as distinct from the BSOH as either is from a cross, hook an uppercut.

The big sloppy version is just what it sounds like - thrown from the outfield (a very apt metaphor, and deliberately chosen, because this is the same way baseball players hurl a ball across great distances, and echoes the wind-up mechanics of a fastball pitcher as well, sometimes more of a knuckler, sometimes a hybrid of both), maximizing torque and minimizing what is traditionally seen as the boxer's responsibility to, whenever possible and to as great an extent as possible, maintain a defensively sound position even when delivering offense. A lacrosse-sticking high arc with a full sail's worth of wind carrying it to its point of impact but with very little trajectory control on the part of its perpetrator. Boxing coaches simply don't advise this manner of throwing an overhand; in fact they will actively demonstrate it as exemplary of how not to do so.

Now, where you do see this sort of nonsense (per the sensibilities of 'conventional boxing wisdom') taught will be in MMA gyms.

Here's the "Iceman" Chuck Liddell outright asking his students to completely eschew the east-west plane and forego the "head & shoulders" area for one's desired payload strike-zone. Instead, he demands a full-on windmilling, arm extended and raised heavenward, and
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So, while not uncommon in the octagon (and whatever other shape cage or pit they come up with in various fledgling promotions, despite the best efforts of Dana White to keep a monopolizing stranglehold on that nubile and trendy - and thus, for the moment, lucrative - discipline) you don't see too much of it within the squared rope circle. The few serial proponents of it stick out as exceptions that prove the rule; they generally have awkward enough styles and/or the combination of heavy-handedness and iron chin to put them at liberty to break rules most novices are taught as unbreakable from day one in the gym. Perhaps nobody embodies all of these qualities more than our very own Warlando Salido. :klitfanb

The guy is a maniac, a maverick, a maven of mayhem who malleates every melee into a maelstrom of blows running the "clean to dirty" and "straight to looping" gamut. He absolutely DGAF, he will throw what he wants exactly when he wants and from whatever angle or distance he damn well feels like.

The biggest notch in his coup stick, officially, is Juan Manuel López - twice over, as of a couple of months ago. It arguably would be Robert Guerrero, had Salido's unanimous decision over him in 2006 stood (it was overturned due to Salido testing positive for nandrolone - a point of contention on which Siri has maintained his innocence until this day, claiming a false positive, with the circumstances around his denied request to be granted a re-test looking sketchy and leaving plenty of room for doubt) but Guerrero, while maybe a better h2h fighter, has never received the same degree of hype as his fellow southpaw from Puerto Rico. Salido employed the BSOHR to great effect on both occasions, softening López up although it didn't provide the finishing touch on either (a powerful straight flurry in their first encounter, and then a hooking combo in the rematch providing the punctuation in each respectively) - and it figured prominently in all of his efforts in his noble defeats to phenomenally talented Yuriorkis Gamboa of Cuba (netting him a knockdown in round 8) and versus the far greater "Juan Ma" - counter-puncher extraordinaire "Dinamita" Márquez.

Here is Siri vs. JMM, an underrated modern classic from almost eight years ago:
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Note how despite all his beautiful textbook paint-by-numbers technical boxing, JMM still had trouble with Salido's totality of attributes: physical & mental strength, non-orthodoxy, willingness to skirt the line of whatever the officials will let him get away with, and some oft-underestimated technical skill of his own. Clear win for Dinamita, but Siri made him work for it.

Here's a smattering of recent performances where the big sloppy overhand came into play and scored with some measure of success, whether its practitioner ultimately won or lost the match:

Glazkov vs. Oloukun:
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Salido vs. López II:
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Holyfield vs. Williams:
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Bundrage vs. Spinks:
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Stevenson vs. Gonzáles:
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Harris vs. Maussa:
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Note: the shot JMM used to kayo Pac-Man was a normal counter overhand right, not a BSOHR. Don't get it twisted.

Just watch it here in slow-motion:
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Because of the impact (and resultant outcome), some people have commented that JMM was throwing an uncharacteristically looping shot in order to maximize the destruction he wrought upon being given that fateful opening Juan had been awaiting for over forty rounds spread across most of a decade. It wasn't. He did, as usual, everything you're supposed to do when throwing a counter overhand right. Check his mechanics - flawless. It was Pacquiao who left himself uncharacteristically wide open (despite his penchant for bunny-hopping, it never left him quite that exposed), and the confluence of JMM's perfect technique and that momentary lapse in his nemesis' carefulness meant the stars aligned to give us a highlight reel brutal KO for the ages.

Now, the overhand right on which JMM scored the KD, earlier, in round 3? Yes, that was very sloppy by his standards. Maybe still not quite a page torn from his old rival Salido, but for Juan it was a hot stinking mess of a punch. :good

 

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@Warlando Salido, king of the BSOHR, reigns supreme once more!

Of course, in this one he was just as prolific with the BSUTTOG (that is, the Big Sloppy Underhand To The Opponent's Gonads)...but hey, whatever it takes for you to vanquish the amateur GOAT is fair game. :smoke :happy :fire