Who was the first switch hitter?

Emile Griffith switch hitter

 

Bomber Graham was probably the first true switch hitter.

 

I am hearing a lot of prety modern fighters being mentioned as "the first swith hitter".

The chances are that there were probably switch hitters back in Roman times.

 

Griff certainly confused Joey Archer in their rematch by shifting his left from guarding his head to a low position. I don't specifically recall him switch hitting, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Ditto for Jersey Joe Walcott. With that kind of footwork, momentary shifts go with the territory. It's not the same as LaMotta deliberately rooting himself into that flatfooted stance to deliver over a dozen key shots at a critical moment in a closing round. (Lots of fighters have practiced switch hitting. What's more noteworthy to me than Jake shifting against Murphy, is how effective he was when he did it, and against one of the foremost southpaws of the era in Irish Bob.)

 

Among Hagler's contemporaries, Benitez was noted for doing it. Czyz also did it for defensive purposes. Hagler was almost ambidextrous at times in his frequency of shifting, and it betrayed early confusion when he kept reversing his stance against Geraldo. I think it got to the point with Marv where it was so expected that it ceased to be an advantage. LaMotta saved it for a special moment with Murphy, and the element of surprise worked perfectly. With Hagler, there was no surprise. The orthodox stance gave him no advantage against either Hearns or SRL, and things only turned Marv's way after he abandoned it. (In fact, starting out the first two rounds batting orthodox against SRL is the most frequently cited reason why the decision went against him.)

 

There was a brief period of time when Livingstone Bramble was so good that the mags claimed that he "switch hit better than Marvin Hagler".

 

Well I'm pretty sure about Malinaggi and I've suspected DLH for years...

 

In terms of actually using 'switch-hitting' as a style, I think Herol Graham has to be the innovater here.