Manny Pacquiao, the best southpaw of recent years who utilizes his advantages of fighting as a southpaw
First of all a southpaw is a boxer that leads with there right hand and keeps the left hand back, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is left handed there has been some great fighters that are right handed but box as a southpaw in order to use there naturally stronger right hand as a lead.
As anybody who had fought or sparred with a southpaw it can be hard work the main reason for this is that every move they make is the opposite from what you are generally used to so its like a mirror image of yourself.
One big problem that you see in many fights where an orthodox boxer fights a southpaw is that both boxers lead foot are closer to each other which also means that heads are closer too, this usually leads to boxers standing on each others feet and also clashing heads on the inside.
Southpaws have the same problems against orthodox boxers that orthodox boxers have against southpaw’s however in most gyms there aren’t many southpaws so orthodox boxers don’t get chance to practise that much however the southpaw is always sparring and training against orthodox boxers.
Some good tactics against a southpaw are -
1) moving to your left away from the southpaws backhand (more powerful hand) this helps keep the southpaw off balance also and sets them up for the straight right hand which is an important shot against a southpaw, always try and keep your lead foot on the outside of the southpaws right foot otherwise your foot will get tangled with there lead foot.
2) Use plenty of feints (pretend to throw a punch) as most southpaws are counter punchers they want you to lead so that they can counter your lead with there own attack.
3) Try and get the southpaw boxing coming forward as most southpaws are counter punchers they prefer to box on the back foot and pick you off coming forward by boxing on the back foot yourself and drawing them out you are taking them out of there game-plan.
4) Slip to the left or move your body to your left which is outside of the southpaws line of attack, then you can counter with your left hand for example left uppercut or the left hook (this is highlighted in the video below)
5) Finally the most important bit of advice I can offer is not to get frustrated with the southpaw boxer as this plays into there game-plan and also don’t over think what the southpaw is doing its just another style of boxing and they only have the same shots available that an orthodox boxer does.
The best way to beat any style including the southpaw style is to practise against it, if there isn’t any southpaws at your gym then ask a training partner to switch stance and work on the above tips and also your usual defences and see what works better for you.
At Elite Boxing we work on these types of techniques as well as get our boxers switching stance because as I mentioned in the first part of this article most people struggle against southpaws so why not practise boxing southpaw yourself, this way your giving your opponent another problem they have to figure out!!
