Per Capita Southpaws

[IamInuit]

I've noticed a real increase in southpaws generally over the past decade and I'd wager that the Philippines specifically has more southpaws then most countries.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Japan started the southpaw trend in Asia.. japanese school of boxing encourages young boxers to fight in a southpaw stance for advantage. Thats why many japanese fighters are converted southpaws.

[IamInuit]

Japan started the southpaw trend in Asia.. japanese school of boxing encourages young boxers to fight in a southpaw stance for advantage. Thats why many japanese fighters are converted southpaws.

So there are lots of left hand fighters fighting right handed from Japan? I'm saying actual southpaws that fight southpaw. Oscar for example is a converted southpaw. Born left handed, fights right handed.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Japan started the southpaw trend in Asia.. japanese school of boxing encourages young boxers to fight in a southpaw stance for advantage. Thats why many japanese fighters are converted southpaws.

So there are lots of left hand fighters fighting right handed from Japan? I'm saying actual southpaws that fight southpaw. Oscar for example is a converted southpaw. Born left handed, fights right handed.

I meant the other way around.. many of them are naturally right handed but learned to fight as a southpaw..

[IamInuit]

Japan started the southpaw trend in Asia.. japanese school of boxing encourages young boxers to fight in a southpaw stance for advantage. Thats why many japanese fighters are converted southpaws.

So there are lots of left hand fighters fighting right handed from Japan? I'm saying actual southpaws that fight southpaw. Oscar for example is a converted southpaw. Born left handed, fights right handed.

I meant the other way around.. many of them are naturally right handed but learned to fight as a southpaw..

I thought so. Its a confusing phrase.

[Julius Rain]

Stance are suppose to be determine by which is your dominant eye. Anyone who have fighting background should know how to test for which is their dominate eye. Usually if you are right handed your dominant eye is your right eye. Aligning your dominant hand with your dominate eye determines if you're a southpaw or orthodox. This is what makes you more accurate. If you are to stand southpaw but have a dominate right eye your vision is compromise especially while on the constant move. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. I am an example, born right handed but have ambidextrous tendencies. I have a dominant right eye but I prefer the southpaw stance. My reason to sacrifice more accuracy is because I have a giant left calve. Keeping my left leg behind and mainly on its toe, I have more mobility, speed and power! Also fighting mma, I am able to head kick almost as fast as a jab. In a southpaw stance I can twist my ankle more naturally to throw round house kick and or go in and out of range. Basically I personally feel there is more pros than con for me in a southpaw stance.

[p4pking]

Could be yeah, I didn't realize how many converted southpaws there were for a long time. Makes sense that guys are encouraged to fight right handed by most trainers, maybe it's the lack of conventional boxing coaches in some countries that leads to more guys who don't make the switch. It's hard to think of many classic boxers who fight lefty, it's usually only people who can get away with being unorthodox for one reason or another.

[p4pking]

I believe Tyson and De La Hoya are natural lefty's for instance, and Andre Ward apparently is as well.

[greynotsoold]

In the old days you turned a fighter around, a lot of it being because it was hard for a leftie to get fights. that is why hagler learned to fight both ways. Now, there is a thing among boxing trainers to let a guy go with what is natural, so you see more lefties. But a lot of that is laziness/ignorance on the part of trainers and i think it hurts the quality of boxing overall because, in general, you don't become as skilled a fighter as a southpaw as you could have otherwise.
that comes down to a misconception about what is important for a fighter. A lot of guys turn southpaw because they hit harder/more comfortably with their left hand, so they box that way and their front hand never gets developed. but here is the thing...In boxing, 80% of the work is done with the front hand, the jab, the hook and so on. The back hand catches, blocks, parries, and sometimes punches. So there are a lot of guys, even upper level pros, that don't use their hands well, they look to potshot the left but don't jab well, don't hook well. They end up being very limited as fighters.

[IamInuit]

In the old days you turned a fighter around, a lot of it being because it was hard for a leftie to get fights. that is why hagler learned to fight both ways. Now, there is a thing among boxing trainers to let a guy go with what is natural, so you see more lefties. But a lot of that is laziness/ignorance on the part of trainers and i think it hurts the quality of boxing overall because, in general, you don't become as skilled a fighter as a southpaw as you could have otherwise.
that comes down to a misconception about what is important for a fighter. A lot of guys turn southpaw because they hit harder/more comfortably with their left hand, so they box that way and their front hand never gets developed. but here is the thing...In boxing, 80% of the work is done with the front hand, the jab, the hook and so on. The back hand catches, blocks, parries, and sometimes punches. So there are a lot of guys, even upper level pros, that don't use their hands well, they look to potshot the left but don't jab well, don't hook well. They end up being very limited as fighters.

One thing very common with successful converted lefties be it those mentioned or Tyson, Cooney, Basilio, Cotto etc is the left hook. Devastating. Winky and Andrade are two guys that were born right handed and fight left which is much more rare.

It the early days southpaws were actually thought to be retarded and many doctors considered it a birth defect.

[p4pking]

In the old days you turned a fighter around, a lot of it being because it was hard for a leftie to get fights. that is why hagler learned to fight both ways. Now, there is a thing among boxing trainers to let a guy go with what is natural, so you see more lefties. But a lot of that is laziness/ignorance on the part of trainers and i think it hurts the quality of boxing overall because, in general, you don't become as skilled a fighter as a southpaw as you could have otherwise.
that comes down to a misconception about what is important for a fighter. A lot of guys turn southpaw because they hit harder/more comfortably with their left hand, so they box that way and their front hand never gets developed. but here is the thing...In boxing, 80% of the work is done with the front hand, the jab, the hook and so on. The back hand catches, blocks, parries, and sometimes punches. So there are a lot of guys, even upper level pros, that don't use their hands well, they look to potshot the left but don't jab well, don't hook well. They end up being very limited as fighters.

One thing very common with successful converted lefties be it those mentioned or Tyson, Cooney, Basilio, Cotto etc is the left hook. Devastating. Winky and Andrade are two guys that were born right handed and fight left which is much more rare.

It the early days southpaws were actually thought to be retarded and many doctors considered it a birth defect.

As a southpaw myself I'm afraid I can't definitively refute this

Good point on the left hook, you can tell Ward has about as much power in his jab as any other punch he throws as well. Didn't know that about Winky or Andrade, but having just watched him that makes perfect sense. His jab is about his only good punch by the seems of, and his feet are all over the place. He looks exactly like a really athletic guy trying to fight the wrong way, I wonder why on earth he decided not to stay orthodox.