Southpaws rarely get mentioned when it comes to being the best at fighting up close but there are some notable names that were great at close range. Who are some southpaws that are great infighters? Pernell Whitaker was superb in the pocket.
Hamsho. He wasn't artistic like Whitaker of course, but the trenches were the last place you'd want to be in a fight with him.
Hagler of course could do it all, including infighting when it suited him. Bazooka Limon could rumble.
Not a Classic yet but Sebastian Fundora seems to like it inside. Odd for a man that tall but I absolutely love watching him fight.
Lew Tendler Vincente Saldivar Never been a fan of S/Paws, they can make a fight look awkward and disjointed , as we are finding out on this thread, not many great ones either, also back in the day, wasn't it the practice to " turn " such fighters into orthodox soon as possible, giving proof that that the managers/trainers knew their fighter would some what be avoided and therefore not fight as often as their counter parts ? I am thinking one of my all time favs Basilio started out as such. keep well.
Michael Nunn, Joe Calzaghe are some names that were quite good on the inside despite being tall southpaws.
Great answers. Mark Too Sharp Johnson is also another fighter that does well on the inside. Currently Loma and Spence are good southpaw infighters.
I haven't seen much of him as there doesn't appea rto be a lot of footage, but in watching the clips of his bout with Billy Conn, Melio Bettina seemed an awkward handful, and he seemed to have some early success in forcing Billy to fight inside. Conn eventually figured him out but I wish there was more of Bettina there to watch. He seemed strong and awkward, and southpaw champs were very rare back then. he was an anomaly just because of that.
Got two for the post. One great in Jose Luis Ramirez , a not so great but tough as nails Rafael Bazooka Limon
The thinking at the time was that they should be drowned at birth. But apparently society got “enlightened” or some such.
