Top 10 Southpaws All Time

Who are the top ten southpaws all time? Whitaker? Pacquiao? Hagler? Flowers? Elorde?

Saldivar, Calderon, Moorer.

Tendler get a mention ?

Calderon has to be up there with the very best. For a guy who couldn't punch for toffee he made nigh on all of his opponents look average with a pretty special skillset.

Would also put out there Camacho and Whitaker. And here comes the Hagler debate. Again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A73801541

An article I wrote a few years ago;

"Thought this would make for an interesting list

Pernell Whitaker
Manny Pacquiao
Marvin Hagler
Vicente Saldivar
Tiger Flowers
Young Corbett III
Joe Calzaghe
Lew Tendler
Freddie Miller
Khasoai Galaxy

Other names that were considered: Hector Camacho; Michael Nunn; Winky Wright; Naseem Hamed; Flash Elorde; Michael Moorer; Jiro Watanabe; Duilio Loi; Jose Luis Ramirez. Ramirez and Elorde were particularly close to making the list.

A special mention to Laszlo Papp. Had he been a professional for his peak years, or at least some of his peak years he would have IMO been a top 3 candidate. As it stands he didn't really achieve enough in the pro game to warrant a top 10 placing."

For what it's worth, I would have Pacquiao as a clear #1 now.

Is that in order Gent?

Hell of a list. Would you have Pacquiao above Whitaker?

Seems pretty comprehensive gentleman... Martinez, tarver and fresh in my mind from another thread, kalule might be honourable mentions.

You'd expect more really... I think there's a few naturally lefties down the years who were turned because they were easier to match and easier to train!

Howard Winstone Not born a lefty but had to adapt and become one due to accident

Thanks Haz. Yeah, this is in order.

Indeed, I'd have Pac above Whitaker now. It's a close call, but Pacquiao I think has the better names and has, on the whole, achieved more, despite the lack of Mayweather on his CV.

I actually agree, Milky. I remember when I first thought of doing the list, the inspiration being that I'm a lefty myself, I actually expected there to be tens of top-level fighters to choose from. I was a little surprised at the relatively low number of left-handed world champions.

... yes, considering they're awkward and its meant to be an advantage.

I read somewhere that corbett and jeffries were converted lefties, think i read somewhere that lamotta might have been too... not that his stance mattered too much. More recently De La Hoya. No idea how true that is.. just something I read.

For what it's worth, I would have Pacquiao as a clear #1 now.

For me it would be Calderon. Such a shame that guy didn't weight 30lbs or so more, would be remembered as one of the all time greats if he were fighting in a more fashionable division.

milkyboy wrote:... yes, considering they're awkward and its meant to be an advantage.

I read somewhere that corbett and jeffries were converted lefties, think i read somewhere that lamotta might have been too... not that his stance mattered too much. More recently De La Hoya. No idea how true that is.. just something I read.

Yup, think it was a recent article of the "Best I faced" on The Ring's website (could be wrong though). Because he was a natural leftie the left hand he had was one of the best orthodox left hands of all time.

Much as I am loathe to like him, the Chubby manlet sometimes known as Cotto is also a converted Southpaw. I remember watching an early Tyson fight on Espn a while back, the Mercedes one I think, and the commentator remarked that Tyson was a converted Southpaw. I have never heard it from another source, so it may be BS. Ruddock was also a converted according to Lewis.

No surprise the list isn't long. Left handers have always been looked down upon as "otherwise" members of society. And it was much the same in boxing. Early on, southpaw couldn't get fights, or even trainers, so they either quit or converted. Think in a 60-fight career, Ali had something like two left handed opponents.

Michael Nunn is Top 10 for me..............

I've wrote about it ad nauseum but the performance against the very talented, gold medallist Frank Tate is one of the best I've ever seen.............Lightning fast, angles, footwork and a brilliant body shot that basically finished it..........9 rounds to 0............Sublime....

He was so special that night I'd have picked to beat any other middle in history over 12.....If only for the night !!

Kalambay another top middle from the 80s blasted in 60 seconds...........

Nunn like Curry flatterd to deceive a little.................

But talent alone he's on my list and probably near the top..........

Don't ogten hear Freddie Miller get a mention on here:


http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/miller-f.htm

http://bxhof.tripod.com/miller.html

I'm a huge fan of Michael Nunn's and he was definitely close to making the list. In fact, I originally had him in there, if memory serves. For me, however, he doesn't quite have the resume to warrant a place, but it's all opinions. Certainly if someone included Nunn in their top-10 I wouldn't argue too much. Agree that his talent was awesome.

Calderon also could be placed in the top-10. He's nowhere near #1 though, which is a clear contest between Pacquiao and Whitaker.

1) Whitaker 2) Pacquiao 3) Hagler. Providing you don't get in too much of a twist over whether or not Hagler was a true lefty or more of a switch hitter (I tend to think of him as a southpaw, but some get a little pedantic over it) then that's a pretty clear and sure-fire top three, for me.

Their accomplishments and overall record are close, but Pea remains ahead of Pacquiao due to just being the better, more consistent fighter in my eyes. In his peak, he had a complete dominance over his nearest rivals that Pacquiao just never quite had - even in Manny's peak years, the likes of Morales and Marquez were able to either beat him or have the wood on him from a styles perspective, and he lost another couple as a younger pup. On the other hand, up until about 1996 Whitaker didn't lose many rounds, never mind look likely to lose a fight (obviously, that's putting aside the historically appalling 'decisions' in the first Ramirez and Chavez fights). Incidentally, Whitaker handing out a lesson to an unbeaten, all-time great in Chavez is something Manny's not done, albeit he's perhaps not had a fighter as great as Chavez to test his mettle against either.

Based on Manny's repeated problems with Marquez and the fact that Whitaker, as a lefty, negates the southpaw impact and would be perhaps the only guy Manny had ever fought who was in the same bracket speed-wise, leads me to believe that Pacquiao beating Whitaker in a prime for prime match up would be very much the exception rather than the rule.

Hagler is a natural for the bronze medal.

Outside of that it's tricky but I'd probably go with Saldivar in fourth spot. Outstanding reign as Featherweight champion and one of only a very, very small handful of 126 pounders who could have beaten Winstone in that second fight of theirs. A phenomenal contest of staggering quality. His showing against Seki in their rematch was a methodical beat down to highlight how effective he was when at his best.

Touch of the Armstrong about him in the sense that his prime was explosive but ended at a relatively early age, but still just about a top five Featherweight of all time in my opinion.

Camacho I think deserves a shout