The science behind one handed heavyweight hitters

Mechanics and the way they are built.

Each arm/shoulder is actually not identically built

My guess anyway

 

Razor Ruddock and Gerry Cooney were left-handed, but they were taught to box in a right-handed stance. (Back then, people didn't like to fight southpaws, so left handed fighters were taught to box in a right handed stance.) But their left hands remained their power punch, even after getting switched around.

Same with Michael Moorer. Actually, Michael Moorer boxed out of the southpaw stance but he was right handed. That's why Moorer had a powerful right jab and right hook, but didn't knock a lot of guys out with the left, even though he was a southpaw fighter.

 

I've been thinking about this. Maybe some people are just very dominant with one hand.
As a lefty myself I can only write and throw with my left. In those areas, my right hand is pathetic. But, in some other respects, my right hand is more dominant.
But for some lefties, it's all about their left hand. They're extremely left hand dominant. Just the way their brains are wired I guess.
I just think that we're all wired a bit differently upstairs, leading to some favouring one hand over the other, and in some cases, doing certain things almost exclusively with one hand.

 

It's just like anything else in sport. Folks have strengths and weaknesses. I have seen plenty of guys in the gym that hit harder with their non dominant hand. For years when I was a kid my straight right hand or my 'two" was my money punch. As I got older and better with the mechanics of the left hook, my "3" became my money punch because as I progressed in competition, it became harder and harder to land right hands against guys that could defend against it and hooks are so much faster and harder to see. Overtime, my left hook became my strongest punch. I'm sure most fighter's have had a similar experience where a particular hand or punch just clicks with them.

Another example is Winky Wright. He is naturally right handed and discovered that when he switched to fighting as a Southpaw, his right jab became a weapon that most fighters could only dream of having. He literally dominated ATG's (Tito and Shane) with that single punch.

 

Something interesting about Joe Frazier is that when he was younger he teased a large hog on his family's farm. The hog eventually charged him and he fell and injured his left arm. It never fully healed correctly and the irony is that the way his arm ended up in a neutral position that was perfect for cranking out left hooks. This is why he is rarely seen throwing out 100% straight jabs or left hands and often used his hook as a lead weapon.

It was almost like it was his destiny to be a left hook specialist despite being right handed.

 

Henry Cooper also comes to mind.
He was a converted lefty, obviously Henry’s left hook was a weapon but I can’t remember him stopping anyone with the right though.

 

Yes! And I have always found this fact to be fascinating about Frazier! What would he have been like if this had never happened? Possibly not as good as he was.

 

I’m thinking that these lefty’s in the orthodox stance can punch or potentially could punch good with the other side but they develop a style around the repeat use of their best punch because of where their left sits. You are never going to notice their backhand.

It’s all depends if a fighter is leading with their dominant hand or not.

The backhand from either stance is used less often anyway. If the backhand is the secondary hand, rather than the dominant hand, how is the backhand going to develop into anything more than a leverage tool?

if all the power is in a left hand to start with, and it’s being overused in the orthodox stance then you can understand why the right hand won’t develop. It’s the secondary hand that needs the development because the dominant hand is the one you can already punch with naturally.

Max Baer had a great right hander but because he fought from the orthodox stance he developed a good left too. The leverage from throwing the right hand is put into the left on the way back.

A right handed orthodox fighter is forced to develop good secondary power with his left. Same as a left handed southpaw should develop decent secondary power with his right.

Larry Holmes is right handed but he still developed a great jab. He wound up with an ATG jab because of good technique and a better understanding of positioning. It had nothing to do with his dominant hand. Even though his jab overshadowed the power of his dominant hand. The stance required that kind of leverage. But because he led with his secondary hand he was always going to have a right hand punch too.

seems to me it’s only when a guy leads with his dominant hand that you are never going to notice his backhand.

 

I’m ambidextrous — throw with my right hand, for instance, and write with my left.

In boxing, my right hand is much more deft — I can do more finesse and skilled things with it and turn different punches off of it, like hooking off the jab.

My left is by far more powerful. I can feel the thud when I punch with it no matter whether orthodox or southpaw, but I cannot do more skilled things with it like hooking off the jab efficiently. People I have sparred with tell me my left has some pop but even my best right hook is a scoring punch, not a power punch.

I boxed southpaw but would alternate hitting the bag thinking after enough years I could develop more game with my left but it never happened.

 

Being ambidextrous, Don’t you find that you still have a dominant side?

Sounds to me, as a right handed person, that the “power” comes more from thinking and reacting more from the right side than the left. Being able to transfer we leverage through the arms more instinctively etc. Therefore you are more steady with that hand because it’s the side that you are instinctive with. In boxing My left is therefore faster, lighter and more versatile but that could just as easy be because more weight is on my right side and less weight is over the left foot.

A right handed person is forced to develop a better left punch from the orthodox stance out of using the front hand more frequently. For example, The power for a left hook from a right handed person can be generated from the pivot from the right shoulder through the left foot. The power for a hard left jab is generated from transferring weight from the right side through the left hand from a forward step. So it’s not directly from the secondary side.

ever noticed that A right handed southpaw often carry too much weight on the front foot too?

 

A number of factors can come into play.

Sometimes a fighter just falls in love with one punch, and builds their style around it.

That works fine until they step up in competition, when it gets brutally tested.

Some very fine fighters like Paulino Uzcdun and Joe Frazier, were working around an injury to one arm, that they had never fully recovered from.

 

Not sure that I’d call one side more dominant — they’re just different. In boxing parlance, my left is heavier and my right is more nimble.

In baseball or softball, I could switch hit and hit for (low) average either way, but hitting for power I definitely was better batting right-handed — I guess because my left arm is stronger I could pull the ball better.

If I had to get through a fight with just one hand, I’d definitely rather it be my right because I can do more things with it — fighting southpaw in particular I can jab better and hook well body or head. If I had to use only my left I’d switch to orthodox and would have a heavy jab but I’m much more one punch at a time.

If I’m fighting southpaw I can time a good one-two or one-one-two with power on the two and follow that with a well-placed hook. If I fight orthodox my hook after the two might be more powerful but it’s ‘clumsy’ and doesn’t flow in quick sequence if that makes sense — basically it’s harder to land cleanly with it. And if I’m orthodox and landed my best straight right you’d probably smile at it but my jab could do some damage.

As for front foot and back foot, I think that depends on the fighter. De la Hoya is an exceptional fighter and a converted southpaw (as far as he’s left-handed) and his jabs and hooks are good but I thought he was pretty good off the back or front foot. (Although he’s an exceptional fighter).

Angelo Dundee always believed the way to beat a southpaw was to back them up and while every fighter is different, I think that’s true in more cases than not. They tend not to be as good (or as comfortable at least) fighting off the back foot ... but then a Camacho could box circles around you.

EDIT: Any discussion of me fighting or what I could do sparring is far in my past. I could probably throw a good combo now but I’d need a timeout to catch my breath after. I was hitting a heavy bag working out up until a couple years ago but moved to an apartment and don’t have one handy (wouldn’t be worth it to pay a gym fee even if not for COVID), but also because my shoulders aren’t what they used to be and they’d be sore sometimes to the point of not really being able to use my left arm well for an hour or two after working out if I did explosive stuff. Plus I doubt I could get out of the way of a punch to save my life now what with age deteriorating reflexes.

 

Genetics play a big part. All this is of course not limited to heavies.