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Who do you fight fans think was the greatest Southpaw fighter of all time? By this I was thinking 'greatest' in the sense that which fighter used his Southpaw stance to it's greatest effect?

Pernell Whitaker?
Vicente Saldivar?
Marvin Hagler?

So who was the best and most effective fighter of all time fighting from the Southpaw stance?

Also while we are on the subect who do you think are the top 5 greatest Southpaw fighters of all time.

Subtle difference I know but an important one I feel?

corrie sanders

For years and years I have read that Lew Tendler was the greatest leftie.

Rocky Balboa !!!!!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Seriously, Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

tiredoldetc.....old timers who actually saw him claimed tendler was rhe best southpaw...that had he fought in any era other than that of benny leonard he would have been champion....and actually may have beaten him the first time they fought. so...just from all those good judges of fighters being so high on him i'm inclined to agree.

of the fighters i've actually seen, i pick hagler.

koejoe wrote

by this I was thinking 'greatest' in the sense that which fighter used his Southpaw stance to it's greatest effect?

i think in that case its pernell whitaker. southpaws most effective when ur being defensive and countering moving back, and pernell was great at that. hagler did box very well but also moved forwrd and slugged alot and took some of the south paw advantage away.

best southpaw though as a fighter is marvin hagler

There is no such thing as a great southpaw. There are few that were pretty good. But south paws as a rule aren't great, they are only awkward. Backward ass one handed fighters.

Marvin Hagler gets my vote.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:koejoe wrote

by this I was thinking 'greatest' in the sense that which fighter used his Southpaw stance to it's greatest effect?

i think in that case its pernell whitaker. southpaws most effective when ur being defensive and countering moving back, and pernell was great at that. hagler did box very well but also moved forwrd and slugged alot and took some of the south paw advantage away.

best southpaw though as a fighter is marvin hagler

Everyone remembers Hagler as a slugger because of the defining fight with Hearns and the Mugabi fight when he took a lot more shots than he usually would. Hagler didn't like to lead he was more of a counter puncher with a solid defence. Later on in his career his chin and physical attributes really came into play but he wasn't a slugger unless the occassion called for it.

watch the Duran fight. Duran figured out how to fight him and made him lead. He didn't have the size or physical strengths to take it all the way but Duran showed Leonard the blueprint for fighting Marvin.

ringsider wrote:There is no such thing as a great southpaw. There are few that were pretty good. But south paws as a rule aren't great, they are only awkward. Backward ass one handed fighters.

Whitaker and Hagler both were definitely great.

i know what your taking sbout and I agree with u ezzard. hagler was also a great boxer and counterpuncher

well considering how everyone goes on about how great harry greb was how about the guy that beat him twice in world middleweight title fights the great tiger flowers.

Whitaker and Hagler were the best.

Joe Calzaghe :P

Marvelous Marvin Hagler no doubt about it i think he was a step ahead of whitaker

Pernell Whitaker absolutely in my mind was the best southpaw ever. I put him over haglar because he beat better oppisiton throughout his career and constantly rose in weight to take on bigger chalenges.
whitaker never really lost until he was past his prime and fought Trinidad.

theone wrote:Pernell Whitaker absolutely in my mind was the best southpaw ever. I put him over haglar because he beat better oppisiton throughout his career and constantly rose in weight to take on bigger chalenges.
whitaker never really lost until he was past his prime and fought Trinidad.

I'd have to take issue with you on this. Whitaker did not "constantly rise in weight". He started out at a light weight and settled in at welter. That's only 2 weight classes.
And compare their opponents. I think they both fought good fighters in their respective careers, but Hagler undoubtedly fought the tougher ones. Even having to go to his 50th fight for a title shot because no one would before that. And he got robbed in that title fight against Antuofermo.

i think whittaker started at 130.
he won his first title at 135 and won titles all the way up to 154.

actually Whitaker won titles in four weight classes. Haglars toughest fights were against sugar ray Leonard(lost),Duran(close fight) and Hearns who hurt him more than any other fighter had ever did. Throw in a tough scrap with mugabi and you have a four naturally smaller guys coming up in weight and giving the champ hell. almost all of the other fighters he fought as champ were one dimensional sluggers. whitaker fought a wider assortment of fighters and was almost always the naturally smaller fighter in most of his wins.
Now im not saying Haglar wasnt great; i rank him the fourth greatest middleweight of all time after Greb,Monzon,and Robinson, but i am saying that whitaker was better.

You guys make the point with all your weak arguments for either Hagler or Whitaker. I repeat:

There are and were no great southpaws. There were a couple that could be called good, but never great.

Backwards ass one handed fighters.

Ringsider I find your evaluation flawed, lacking in composed reflection and filled with anti southpaw bigotry and bias. Furthermore the overarching metaphor of "backward ass one handed fighters" conflicts with both reasoning and intuition since all licensed fighters are required to have two hands connected presumably to two arms. There have been no right handed single armed fighters much less any left handed versions.

Furthermore there have been no documented evidence of "cup rotation" in order to provide protection for testicles which would appear on the back side of said described pugilists.

Do you wish to retract your statement for the record?

Joe Marma.

IMO,
TBE

dalek wrote:i think whittaker started at 130.
he won his first title at 135 and won titles all the way up to 154.

And this goes for "theone" also.
I said that Pernell started at light weight and moved up 2 weight classes to end his career at Welter.
Check his fight record- Light wt titles: NABF; USBA; WBC; WBA.
Jr. Welter: IBF
Welter: WBC
Do you two guys know something that we all don't? I saw one fight listed at 154, but he broke his collarbone and had to quit. I didn't see titles listed for 4 weight classes. Perhaps you can enlighten me on this.

wlvrne wrote:Do you two guys know something that we all don't? I didn't see and title listed, nor any fight listed at 154. So please enlighten this poor, uneducated soul.

In 1995 he beat Julio Cesar Vasquez for the WBA Light-Middleweight Title.