Lots of things are expected in boxing it's whether you can do anything about it that's the issue. I'd still tell an Orthadox fighter to try and aviod the left and that's the best way of nulifying the left consistantly throughout the fight.
That video above is great, the one Blue posted, watch that. He opens up the southpaws defence brilliantly with those combinations. That video also shows why perhaps it is wise to circle a southpaw.
Circle to your right, keep your foot outside your opponents lead leg. You're left cross will be your best weapon. You will need to watch your opponents right hand, it's your weakness
Just to throw a spanner in the works for you guys who suggest circling to the left against a southpaw, what happens if you are fighting an right handed southpaw? Think about it.
Ray Leonard did that watch him he circles right and leans on Haglers right shoulder up close i felt he lost the fight but it was a brillaint plan
i prefer the drop the hands to protect the trunks defence. keep thos gloves nice and safe. very effective:good
Yes, against any one other than Hagler, it would have worked brilliantly. There is another, often overlooked aspect when fighting a southpaw though, be it a left or right handed one. I always hear the "circle to your left", "keep your left foot outside his right" etc, but I rarely hear anyone mention range - range is a huge factor when fighting a southpaw. Think about it, what type of fighter is the most difficult to fight - a tall southpaw. Fighting a tall southpaw is an absolute nightmare. In addition to the usual advantages of a southpaw, the 'tall' southpaw adds in another two dynamics - they take away your jab by jabbing over the top of your left hand, all the whilst you are out of range, and secondly, you can never get near enough to land your right hand (if they manage the distance correctly), which is supposedly a southpaws weakness. So, if you are a southpaw who is looking to improve your defense, you need to keep three things in mind: 1 - Circle to your right 2 - Keep your right foot outside your opponents left 3 - Manage the distance To expand on my third point; if your feet are in position, and you are constantly circling to your right, you are looking to bring your opponent onto your left hand - don't go looking for it. You don't want to fight at a range where your opponent can land a straight right on you consistently (think of the distance between your left shoulder and your opponents right). By fighting at this range, you leave your opponent with one safe attacking option - the jab, which you can come over the top of anyway, or duck under and jab to your opponents exposed ribs. The opponent then has a moderately safe option, but often ineffective which is the lead left hook, which would also have to be thrown at long range given the distance between you - only a very talented boxer would land this punch, so it's not really an option for most of us. Thirdly, your opponent has the right hand in his locker, but to land it, he would have to make up a hell of a distance, which gives you the opportunity to time him on his way in with your danger punch - the left hand. The right hand now becomes a very dangerous punch for your opponent to throw - the key is to keep your opponent at a distance, mix up your jab between your opponents face and their left shoulder, and watch him come right onto your left hand.
Thanks for the advice guys. So in terms of circling to the right trying to stay away from the right hand, what happens if my opponent does throw it? How should I try and deal with it? Do you suggest parrying it? If so what hand/arm, or slipping it? If so to what side.
If you parry don't cross arms, so you'd do that with your left. If you slip, do it to the outside, which is also your left.
Block it with your left hand. you could slip it but you want to slip throw a combo and move out of there quick and get back to control with your right foot on the outside.
i was sparring a guy who is a switch hitter and boxed me southpaw a move he did on me was waiting for me to throw my right and move towards me then pivot away setting himself up for his shots can i just add watch Marvin Hagler he hardly ever gets tagged with an Orthodox jab
