About 10% of the population is left-handed. In some sports, there are advantages that can be exploited from this trait alone. Boxing is one of them and when an orthodox boxer comes up against a southpaw, it has to be considered as one of the key data-points when assessing the matchup.
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The ultimate sporting southpaw
If you are looking for evidence in sports data that a left-handed competitor can exploit the rarity of their stance in their given sport, there is no greater example than the ultimate southpaw. All-time tennis great, Rafael Nadal.
Look at Nadal's clay-court dominance over Roger Federer; he would sometimes serve 100% of the time to Federer's backhand throughout a match. The strategy was so strong that even if Federer knew the ball would be swung out wide to his outstretched backhand, it was still more of an advantage for Nadal than any element of surprise he might have chosen to employ.
Nadal, on a claycourt, would generate so much kick on that serve that Federer would be playing the ball at above shoulder-height, and with a single-handed backhand, it was more-or-less impossible for him to get anything on the return.
Being left-handed matters.
Why it matters in boxing
Being a southpaw in boxing presents unique challenges for orthodox fighters due to differences in angles, foot placement, and rhythm. Southpaws are less common, so orthodox fighters often lack experience facing them, making it harder to adapt during a match.
The left-handed stance changes the angle of attack. Southpaws can land punches from directions that orthodox fighters aren't used to defending against. When a southpaw and orthodox fighter face each other, their lead hands and lead feet are closer together, creating a “mirror image.” This alters the usual punching and defensive range, often leading to more clashes or confusion.
Of course the southpaw is more used to this, as he or she faces an orthodox opponent in 90% of contests. The clash of styles is only rare for the right-handed fighter. Because southpaws are less common, orthodox fighters often lack adequate sparring against them, making it difficult to prepare effectively. Indeed, many top-level boxers will openly admit that they struggle against lefties.
The lead foot position is crucial in determining control of angles. Southpaws are often trained to step outside their opponent’s lead foot. This creates openings for the southpaw’s power hand while avoiding the orthodox fighter’s shots. Pull up Oleksandr Usyk (a southpaw GOAT) vs Anthony Joshua. Usyk consistently won the lead foot battle, giving him control of the angles and enabling him to outbox Joshua in both of their fights.
Southpaws exploit openings orthodox fighters don’t usually guard, such as landing the left cross or right hook more effectively. The left-hand power punches come from their left side which is less familiar for orthodox fighters used to defending against right-handed power punches. Orthodox fighters train (more frequently) to face other orthodox opponents, so they develop rhythm and timing based on conventional patterns. Muscle-memory is a thing. Southpaws disrupt this rhythm with their reversed stance and unusual combinations.
Tyson Fury vs southpaw opposition
Southpaws thrive on exploiting the unfamiliarity, angles and dynamics that orthodox fighters struggle to adjust to. Overcoming these challenges requires extensive preparation, footwork adjustments, and a strategic approach tailored to counter the southpaw’s strengths.
The punch stats suggest that Fury finds it harder to land cleanly against southpaws and further, that his defence is more vulnerable against southpaws.
Tyson Fury, considered one of the best of his generation, has some interesting data that you can pull out of his resume. Fury is widely seen as one of the great technicians in modern heavyweight boxing; these stats highlight the objective differences between fighting left- and right-handed boxers.
When judging boxing matches, punch stats are rarely as significant as some may argue when it comes to producing a valid scorecard. But when it comes to looking into data to assess how well a boxer performs against different types of opposition, the punch stats can be useful to review.
After two fights against Deontay Wilder and two fights against Derek Chisora, Tyson Fury elected to have a third fight with both of them. Going into these two trilogy fights, he could not have had more data downloaded in terms of what he had learned in those first two fights.
The punch stats support this.
Against Wilder, Fury landed an impressive 39% of total punches thrown throughout the contest. In terms of the jab, which some would say is the single most important punch in boxing, he connected with 31%.
Similarly, against Chisora, Fury landed an even more impressive 43% of the total shots he threw. His jab success rate that night was a notable 28% against an overmatched Derek.
These fights are seen as among the most impressive, dominant, displays by the Gypsy King, and indeed, the punch stats would support that.
When Fury has failed to shine was in two of his fights against southpaws. Widely expected to win inside the distance against these two big underdogs, Fury would end up winning points decisions against both Francesco Pianeta and Otto Wallin.
Against Wallin, Fury won over twelve torrid rounds. Hampered by a horrific cut, his total punch success rate was 27% in this contest. The jab worked 18% of the time against the southpaw Wallin. Further, it wasn't just that Fury was less effective against the left-hander, but Wallin also had unprecedented success against Fury. At the time, at 127 punches, it was the record for the most punches landed on The Gypsy King.
In the contest with Pianeta, things were even more problematic for Fury if the punch stats tell the story. One might argue that Fury just wanted to get some rounds in on this occasion. He landed 17% of his total punches that night, and just 2% of the jabs. The crowd met that performance with a chorus of boos at the final bell.
Away from these legitimate southpaws, Dillian Whyte also fought from a southpaw stance in the opening round of his stoppage loss to Fury. In that opener, Fury only landed 7 punches, 25% of what the threw. In rounds two and three, when Whyte switched back to orthodox, Fury landed at least twice as many shots and his success rate increased to 38% and 43% respectively.
These numbers certainly suggest that when on the offensive, Tyson Fury is less effective against left-handers. Having looked into his career, there are at least 36 rounds on his record in which he has faced a southpaw (or an orthodox boxer who has switched stances). In none of those rounds is there a 10-8 score for Fury, let alone a stoppage.
But what about his defence, an aspect of his game that is lauded. Wallin was the previous record-holder for most punches landed on Fury. That was until Fury accepted the challenge of Oleksandr Usyk.
In their fantasticly entertaining first fight in May 2024, in terms of jabs thrown, Usyk started slowly. He remained consistent through the middle of the fight and finished strongly. A classic Usyk blueprint. Meanwhile, Fury started the first third of the contest throwing plenty of jabs and gradually lowered his jab's work-rate as the fight progressed.
Over the course of the entire fight, Usyk landed 170 times on Fury. He had a total punch success rate of 42% (Fury had 32% success). He also landed 33% of the jabs he threw (Fury had 22% success). Taking a look back at the first graph in this article to see how these Usyk numbers compare with Fury's numbers during some of his most dominant displays (against orthodox fighters), they are eerily similar.
In terms of punch stats success rates, Usyk had the same success rate against Fury, as Fury had against Wilder and Chisora. The punch stats, for what they are worth, would suggest that Fury finds it harder to land cleanly against southpaws and further, that his defence is more vulnerable against southpaws.
It remains to be seen if this will matter on 21 December.
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Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson; 15 November 2024. Why so serious?
Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury; 18 May 2024. The 9th Round.
