Fight stance is one of the fundamentals in boxing. The ability to master both southpaw and orthodox is next level.
Switching into the right-handed southpaw stance allows high-level boxing from some of the best ever to enter the ring.
The most famous right-handed southpaw boxers are Vasyl Lomachenko, Tyson Fury, Juan Manuel Lopez, Victor Ortiz, and Naseem Hamed. They’re right-handed but trained to fight in southpaw to create a sizeable advantage against their orthodox opponents.
In the rest of this article, I’ll highlight even more examples of great southpaws who are right-handed that have wowed us in the ring.
Table of Contents
Best right-handed southpaw boxers of all time
The average boxer fights in an orthodox style, but some evolve as a southpaw to be more versatile inside the ring.
Here are a selection of my favorites.
8. Juan Manuel Lopez
Juan Manuel Lopez represented Puerto Rico during his pro Boxing career. He was a famous Super Bantamweight, Featherweight, and Super Featherweight during his career (2005-2019.)
Lopez shined the most during the early 2000s. Every watches him due to his knockout ability from both hands. He is known to switch stances multiple times in one fight.
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One of Juan Lopez’s most flawless fights is against Mike Oliver. During this time, Lopez was one of the renowned knockout artists of his division.
Juan finished Oliver with on-point combos from the southpaw stance early in the second round.
7. Victor Ortiz
Victor Ortiz is an American pro Boxer and is the second youngest fighter on this list. He is the former WBC Welterweight champion; Ortiz took this belt in 2011.
Victor captured the attention of Boxing fans due to his aggressive right-handed southpaw fighting style. He loves to throw bombs with both of his hands.
A short exchange of blows between him and his opponent is a high-chance knockdown from the other side.
Ortiz vs. Corral was one of Victor’s most one-sided bouts. He stopped Corral in the fourth round while in a southpaw stance. Victor’s unbearable pressure was too much for his opponent.
6. Michael Moorer
Michael Moorer is an American pro Boxer. He asserted dominance inside the ring during his 20-year career (1988-2008.) Moorer is often called by his fans Double M, Moorer.
Moorer got famous with his right hand’s power. He was a former Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight title holder. As he evolved into a new Boxing beast, he started fighting southpaw.
Michael is loved for his true knockout power. He rammed through his division with his unpredictable punch style. During his prime, he had a 22-fight knockout streak.
The whole world tuned in during the Moorer vs. Billups fight. Moorer switched his stance effectively to land some stinging punches. After several shots, he stopped Billups in round 3.
5. Ronald Lamont Wright
Winky Wright, or Ronald Lamont Wright, was once a professional Boxer. He had a successful career from 1990 until 2012. Wright was the former 2-time Light Middleweight champ.
He was a right-handed person. Despite that, he used his dominant hand to launch precise jabs to open up his jaw-shattering left hand. Wright also switches to orthodox occasionally.
One of Wright’s most notable bouts is against Fernando Vargas. Winky made his lead hand look like his off-hand. He landed several rights and left combos that made him unbeatable inside the ring.
After 12 rounds, the people were shocked as Vargas won via unanimous decision. Despite that, Wright’s southpaw performance gained him respect from the people.
4. Naseem Hamed
‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed is a Yemen national Boxer based in England. He has an outstanding record of 37-1; 31 of his wins were via knockout.
Naseem entered his amateur and professional career as a natural right-handed fighter. It amazed people how he switched to southpaw mid-fight and had success with it.
Hamed actually spends approximately 60% of his rounds as a southpaw. This confuses his opponents on how to predict and counter his punches.
Naseem Hamed was ranked by BoxRec as the G.O.A.T when it comes to British Featherweight Boxers.
Hamed defended his WBC International Super Bantamweight gold against Laureano Ramirez in 1994. Hamed dominated Ramirez with quick invisible-like punches. Ramirez got slept in the final minute of the 3rd round.
3. Marvin Hagler
‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler is an American Middleweight Boxer. He was the former Middleweight King; Hagler ruled the ring for 14 years (1972-1987.) Aside from that, he’s also a good actor.
He was known to be an excellent switch hitter. Switch-hitting means he can interchange his stance during a barrage of punches making every hit a power shot.
Marvin possessed the touch of death. He has the highest recorded K.O percentage (78%) out of all Middleweight fighters.
Originally named Marvin Hagler, he legally put ‘Marvelous’ at the start of his name as his fame grew.
Hagler demolished the former Middleweight champion, Alan Minter. Hagler used his powerful jab to set up leaping power shots that wore down Minter after several rounds. Hagler won via TKO.
2. Tyson Fury
Tyson ‘Gypsy king’ Fury is a British Heavyweight Boxer. He is the former Ring Heavyweight champion. After his last Wilder fight, he now has a 31-0-1 record; 23 of his wins are via K.O.
Fury is a natural orthodox Boxer. In fact, he achieved most of his wins using this stance. He started to train as a Southpaw since he fought Deontay Wilder.
His unexpected change in stance was effective. Being a southpaw helped Fury destroy Wilder via TKO during their rematch and trilogy fight.
Fury’s first fight against Deontay was a Draw. But it’s evident that his southpaw style was damaging the Bronze Bomber like no other.
1. Vasyl Lomachenko
Vasyl Lomachenko is a Ukrainian Lightweight Boxer. He is a former 3 division champion; Featherweight, Junior Lightweight, and unified WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and Ring magazine lightweight belts.
Lomachenko trained as a natural right-handed kid. Vasyl started training as an average orthodox Boxer. Later, he practiced southpaw, shockingly, it gave him success.
Vasyl started his amateur and professional career as a southpaw. Despite that, it’s still evident how comfortable he is using his right hand.
Vasyl knocked out Jose Ramirez last 2013 with a viscous left body shot followed by a short right cross. Lomachenko landed it perfectly, sending Ramirez rolling in pain.
Can right-handed Boxers be southpaw?
Right-handed Boxers can be southpaw. At first, this is a difficult adjustment, but mastering both stances is not impossible with proper training and dedication. Switching stance during a match is also a significant advantage.
Some modern-day pro Boxers who fight as a southpaw despite being naturally right-handed are Tyson Fury and Vasyl Lomachenko.
Who is the best southpaw Boxer ever?
The best southpaw Boxer in history is Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao. He mixes his stance with unbearable speed, aggression, and footwork. He won the ‘fighter of the century award.
Some notable opponents of Manny are Miguel Cotto, Sugar Shane Mosley, Rickey Hatton, Oscar Dela Hoya, and Erik Morales.
Most of Manny’s opponents are fellow pure southpaws and pure orthodox fighters.
Is Manny Pacquiao a right-handed southpaw?
Manny Pacquiao is a natural southpaw Boxer. Outside the ring, he is a left-handed person. Despite that, he is still known to switch to orthodox during his bouts. We can call Manny a left-handed orthodox because of that.
Most of Manny’s wins are done with the help of his aggressive southpaw style. He fought the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Barerra with it.
Who is the fastest southpaw boxer?
Pernell Whittaker is the fastest southpaw boxer of all time. He is an American pro Boxer who had a good career from 1984 to 2001. Pernell is known for his passive-aggressive southpaw style. He’s great at dominating fellow southpaws and orthodox while simultaneously being elusive.
Unlike other fighters, Pernell dominated his opponents not only with offense but in defense. While in southpaw, he’s good at evading shots that are immediately answered by a counter.
Whittaker retired with a record of 40-4-1. 17 of his wins came via knockout, and the remaining 33 were done by complete domination.
Are southpaws better fighters?
Your stance doesn’t make you a better fighter. It only gives you a fair advantage; it’s up to you how you’ll use it to outbox your opponent. There are a lot of cases where orthodox Boxers demolish southpaws and vice versa.
So the line ‘southpaws are better fighters’ is just a myth. What makes you better is pure, dedicated training.
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Is there an advantage in a Natural South-Paw fighting in an Orthodox style? I had a TKO in the 2nd Round of Golden Gloves where I broke my opponent’s nose with two Left-handed jabs.
Like a right-handed southpaw? I’d say absolutely. I’m pretty good in southpaw stance (right-handed) and my jab is very powerful because of it. I think the natural psychological and physiological comfort with a dominant hand makes it somewhat more powerful even when it’s out in front.