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I actually made this thread 3 days ago but it got erased when I sent it so Ill try to remember all I wrote. I like Calzaghe and I think he is a very good fighter but Im surprised that no one brings up the Southpaw style when they talk about him and e****ally in the Kessler fight. To me, I actually think that Kessler kicks Calzaghe's ass if he wasnt a lefty. That was his biggest problem. Joe came straight at him with that Southpaw style and you could tell that Kessler couldnt figure it out.
Its the same thing I say about Pac. These guys are definatly good fighters but because there a southpaw it goes up 2 notches and makes them much harder to beat. If you look at a guy like Pac it also really helps his power. No doubt he is a hard puncher but being a lefty makes his punches like twice as hard because you either never see his punch coming or you can see it and still cant find a way to get away from it because he's a lefty. Look at Wlad vs Sanders. He didnt know what to do. He knew the left was coming and still couldnt get away from it. It got so bad that he started pushing both arms out like scared people do and the punch would still crush him. That makes it hurt so much more. Against a lefty you can have perfect D or perfect range and still get hit clean. Foreman use to say that when you fight a lefty you have to be careful because you think that you stepped out of range but they can still hit you.
If you watch the Tarver-Jones fight where he knocked him out, RJ played that punch perfectly. He threw a punch and then immediatly got into a defensive posture where he was basically standing in like a shoulder roll stance with the right hand over the side of his face. Its nearly impossible to get hit clean like that by a righty but Tarver landed on him flush and thats why it hurt so much more. In the MAB-Pac first fight the same thing happened. MAB was circling Pac and then would step back out of range. He saw Pac about to throw so he circled and stepped back and the punch missed. 2 seconds later MAB did the same exact thing which is what your supposed to do and Pac catches him flush on the jaw. You can tell that is shook MAB up because he just didnt think Pac could hit him in that spot because no one ever has. Then you look at a great techniqal fighter like JMM and see how Pac dropped him 3 times in the 1st round. Even the biggest Pac fan has to admit that it has a ton to do with him being a lefty. If he was a righty then he wouldnt have hit JMM with all those clean shots and if he did then they wouldnt hurt nearly as much because you can see them coming and brace for them.
I was just trying to watch the Maruqez-Rock fight and before that the Guerrero was fighting. Again its the same thing. A Southpaw crushing a guy with a clean punch that he normally wouldnt get hit with. That is so huge of advantage. Being a lefty is an advantage in every sport but in boxing its a huge huge huge advantage. Calzaghe and Pac would be good fighters without it but this definatly makes them alot better. You could definatly tell that Kessler was mesmerized by it. The way Joe was putting pressure on him and coming at him with that backwards style. Look at Floyd. Floyd is probally one of the best defensive fighters weve ever seen. Its no coincedence that the 2 guys who probally hit him with the most flush shots and stunned him the most were Chop & Zab. If you do the shoulder roll D against a Lefty then your still completely open for a straight left. If your fighting a righty with that D and they throw a straight right then you can roll it and if they throw a left hook then you can catch it with your glove but if your fighting a lefty and they throw a straight left then it hits you square in the nose while your glove is on the side of your face. Thats why you saw Floyd walk Zab down but did it in a measured pace because he knew that he could walk into a blind punch.
Mostly all orthodox fighters struggle against Lefty's. Some are pretty good against them. Hopkins right now is probally the best and thats why I would love to see him fight Calzaghe. The Southpaw style doesnt confuse him like it does everyone else. Another thing southpaws have problems with are other southpaws. Thats why I would also love to see Calzaghe fight a guy like Tarver or Dawson. If you look at Spinks he was killing everyone with that style but he ran up on Zab and struggled alot because Zab was also a lefty that wasnt fooled by him.
Its the same thing I say about Pac. These guys are definatly good fighters but because there a southpaw it goes up 2 notches and makes them much harder to beat. If you look at a guy like Pac it also really helps his power. No doubt he is a hard puncher but being a lefty makes his punches like twice as hard because you either never see his punch coming or you can see it and still cant find a way to get away from it because he's a lefty. Look at Wlad vs Sanders. He didnt know what to do. He knew the left was coming and still couldnt get away from it. It got so bad that he started pushing both arms out like scared people do and the punch would still crush him. That makes it hurt so much more. Against a lefty you can have perfect D or perfect range and still get hit clean. Foreman use to say that when you fight a lefty you have to be careful because you think that you stepped out of range but they can still hit you.
If you watch the Tarver-Jones fight where he knocked him out, RJ played that punch perfectly. He threw a punch and then immediatly got into a defensive posture where he was basically standing in like a shoulder roll stance with the right hand over the side of his face. Its nearly impossible to get hit clean like that by a righty but Tarver landed on him flush and thats why it hurt so much more. In the MAB-Pac first fight the same thing happened. MAB was circling Pac and then would step back out of range. He saw Pac about to throw so he circled and stepped back and the punch missed. 2 seconds later MAB did the same exact thing which is what your supposed to do and Pac catches him flush on the jaw. You can tell that is shook MAB up because he just didnt think Pac could hit him in that spot because no one ever has. Then you look at a great techniqal fighter like JMM and see how Pac dropped him 3 times in the 1st round. Even the biggest Pac fan has to admit that it has a ton to do with him being a lefty. If he was a righty then he wouldnt have hit JMM with all those clean shots and if he did then they wouldnt hurt nearly as much because you can see them coming and brace for them.
I was just trying to watch the Maruqez-Rock fight and before that the Guerrero was fighting. Again its the same thing. A Southpaw crushing a guy with a clean punch that he normally wouldnt get hit with. That is so huge of advantage. Being a lefty is an advantage in every sport but in boxing its a huge huge huge advantage. Calzaghe and Pac would be good fighters without it but this definatly makes them alot better. You could definatly tell that Kessler was mesmerized by it. The way Joe was putting pressure on him and coming at him with that backwards style. Look at Floyd. Floyd is probally one of the best defensive fighters weve ever seen. Its no coincedence that the 2 guys who probally hit him with the most flush shots and stunned him the most were Chop & Zab. If you do the shoulder roll D against a Lefty then your still completely open for a straight left. If your fighting a righty with that D and they throw a straight right then you can roll it and if they throw a left hook then you can catch it with your glove but if your fighting a lefty and they throw a straight left then it hits you square in the nose while your glove is on the side of your face. Thats why you saw Floyd walk Zab down but did it in a measured pace because he knew that he could walk into a blind punch.
Mostly all orthodox fighters struggle against Lefty's. Some are pretty good against them. Hopkins right now is probally the best and thats why I would love to see him fight Calzaghe. The Southpaw style doesnt confuse him like it does everyone else. Another thing southpaws have problems with are other southpaws. Thats why I would also love to see Calzaghe fight a guy like Tarver or Dawson. If you look at Spinks he was killing everyone with that style but he ran up on Zab and struggled alot because Zab was also a lefty that wasnt fooled by him.
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