BoxRec

I was watching some ESPN classic footage of Mike Tyson against some no-hopers from the early days..
During one of the matches the announcer said that Mike was a "converted southpaw".But unlike other converted southpaws he could also hit with the right ..Is this guy mistaken or what ??
I've never heard this before..

zurdo wrote:I was watching some ESPN classic footage of Mike Tyson against some no-hopers from the early days..
During one of the matches the announcer said that Mike was a "converted southpaw".But unlike other converted southpaws he could also hit with the right ..Is this guy mistaken or what ??
I've never heard this before..

I've seen this question raised before on other forums over the years but never heard any sensible answer.

Sorry can't help you mate.

I've heard that too, maybe even from the same fight.

Did the guy also happen to mention that Joe Frazier and Gerry Conney were also converted southpaws? If so, I think it was the same fight where I heard this about Tyson.

Either way, it's not really something I've ever given much thought to, but I see no reason to doubt it.

I saw the same early-career-highlights show the other night (damn, if Steve Zouski could only punch! ) I seem to have also heard the story elsewhere, but can't a find any objective proof by way of link to a boxing story.

What *is* 100% obvious from those highlights is that Steve Farhood is one of the most annoying assholes ever (he makes Jim Gray look like a Pulitzer Prize jounalist) - not sure if he's a converted southpaw or not.

maybe the announcer got it wrong.

if you look at fighters who go against their natural stance and fight the other way (moorer, pinklon thomas, etc), they never seen to be able to throw a comfortable looking shot with their 'power hand' (i.e. not the hand they are jabbing with)

tyson throws such a natural and strong overhand right, i just dont believe he is left handed.

if anyone can get pics of tyson signing autographs that will unlock the secret.

well looks like the overhanded one has unlocked the secret:

..when tyson was good he had an excellent left jab...in the sense that he could outjab his taller opponents...and i don't think converted southpaws are good at this.

not sure the photo is conclusive evidence he is right handed though. he appears to be looking at the fountain pen and wondering just what is this strange object someone handed him right before they snapped the picture.

Jaclem wrote:..when tyson was good he had an excellent left jab...in the sense that he could outjab his taller opponents...and i don't think converted southpaws are good at this.

not sure the photo is conclusive evidence he is right handed though. he appears to be looking at the fountain pen and wondering just what is this strange object someone handed him right before they snapped the picture.

Ive got TYsons aoutograph on a couple of occasions. Both times he signed right handed.

If you watch his fights closely, particularly when he first won the title he did sometimes switch hit. This had more to do with his power in both hands.

IMO he is not a converted Southpaw.

Jaclem wrote:not sure the photo is conclusive evidence he is right handed though. he appears to be looking at the fountain pen and wondering just what is this strange object someone handed him right before they snapped the picture.

"Ith thith a dagger I thee before me, motherfucker?"

Athletes often can successfully switch hands when it comes to specific tasks - a classic example is a right-handed baseball player, who finds he has better bat control by batting left-handed (that makes the swing like a 2-handed tennis backhand to him). But AFAIK people don't ever switch handedness for writing unless they suffer some kind of injury to their dominant hand which makes it impossible or very difficult to write with it.

Eric the Viking wrote:

Jaclem wrote:not sure the photo is conclusive evidence he is right handed though. he appears to be looking at the fountain pen and wondering just what is this strange object someone handed him right before they snapped the picture.

"Ith thith a dagger I thee before me, motherfucker?"

"Sthhleep no more, McBride...I mean Macbeth doethhh murder sthhhhleep!"

knockout artist wrote:

Jaclem wrote:..when tyson was good he had an excellent left jab...in the sense that he could outjab his taller opponents...and i don't think converted southpaws are good at this.

not sure the photo is conclusive evidence he is right handed though. he appears to be looking at the fountain pen and wondering just what is this strange object someone handed him right before they snapped the picture.

Ive got TYsons aoutograph on a couple of occasions. Both times he signed right handed.

If you watch his fights closely, particularly when he first won the title he did sometimes switch hit. This had more to do with his power in both hands.

IMO he is not a converted Southpaw.

I brush my teeth with my left hand and a play the guitar like Jimmi Hendrix. but i write with my right hand and i throw a ball with the right. SOME PERSONS ARE NATURAL RIGHT HANDED BUT THEY COULD HAVE MORE FORCE IN THE LEFT.

lemans7 wrote:

I brush my teeth with my left hand and a play the guitar like Jimmi Hendrix. but i write with my right hand and i throw a ball with the right. SOME PERSONS ARE NATURAL RIGHT HANDED BUT THEY COULD HAVE MORE FORCE IN THE LEFT.

yeah but their all mutant freaks.