Top 12 All-Time Greatest Southpaws
According to the latest research, roughly ten percent of the human population is left-handed. This presents few problems for the other ninety percent, but in boxing, those problems become very serious indeed. In the past it was common for orthodox boxers to simply refuse to face “lefties,” which led to many a natural southpaw being converted to a right-handed stance. Thus, the number of great southpaw champions has always been small. Here we rank the greatest southpaws to ever lace up the gloves.
12. Lou Brouillard: Achieving success at both 147 and 160, this converted southpaw boasts wins over a long list of Hall of Famers, including Baby Joe Gans, Jimmy McLarnin, Mickey Walker, Young Corbett III and Bob Olin.
11. Khaosai Galaxy: The hard-punching Galaxy scored 43 knockouts in 49 wins while dominating the super-flyweight division from 1984 to 1991.
10. Joe Calzaghe: Retired undefeated with 22 world title wins, including victories over Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins and Mikkel Kessler.
9. Gabriel Elorde: One of the greatest of the great Filipino boxers, “Flash” Elorde was a long-reigning champion boasting wins over Teddy Davis, Harold Gomes, Fujio Mikami, Ismael Laguna and the great Sandy Saddler.
8. Vicente Saldivar: Arguably the finest featherweight of the 1960s, Saldivar defeated such top-notch talents as Sugar Ramos, Howard Winstone and Jose Legra.
7. Freddie Miller: Featherweight champion in the 1930’s, Miller notched victories over Petey Sarron, Baby Arizmendi, Chalky Wright, Panama Al Brown and Freddie Cochrane.
6. Lew Tendler: One of the greatest to never win a world title, Tendler had the misfortune to compete in the lightweight division at the same time as the great Benny Leonard. Gave “The Ghetto Wizard” two of his toughest fights while also notching wins over Richie Mitchell, Rocky Kansas and Johnny Dundee.
5. Young Corbett III: With 124 victories, many against some of the best boxers of all-time, Corbett remains a true southpaw great. Avoided by champions for years, he finally seized the welterweight crown by defeating Jackie Fields. He holds wins over fellow Hall of Famers Ceferino Garcia, Gus Lesnevich, Mickey Walker, Billy Conn and Fred Apostoli.
4. Tiger Flowers: Competing with Mickey Walker and Harry Greb automatically sets Flowers apart. He gave “The Pittsburgh Windmill” two tough battles and his loss to Walker was widely viewed as a robbery. Racked up an incredible 118 wins in less than a decade.
3. Marvelous Marvin Hagler: Hagler was a dominant middleweight for a full decade. Avoided by the champions of his time, he finally won the world title in 1980 and held it for over six years, defeating, among others, Vito Antuefermo, Alan Minter, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and John Mugabi, as he tallied 62 victories in 67 bouts.
2. Manny Pacquiao: One of the dominant boxers of his time, Pacquiao has won ten world titles in eight divisions and defeated such champions as Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar DeLaHoya, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Timothy Bradley, Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman. Amazingly, having passed the four decade mark, “The PacMan” continues to be a top talent in the sport.
1. Pernell Whitaker: Arguably the finest boxer, pound-for-pound, of the 1990’s, “Sweet Pea” won world titles in four divisions and did not suffer a truly legitimate defeat until he was 35-years-old. One of the greatest defensive boxers of all-time, he boasts victories (official or unofficial) over such excellent fighters as Freddie Pendleton, Azumah Nelson, Jose Luis Ramirez, James McGirt, and of course, Julio Cesar Chavez.
Honourable Mentions: Jiro Watanabe, Duilio Loi, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Mark Johnson, Hilario Zapata, Rolando Navarette, Winky Wright, Marvin Johnson, Melio Bettina, Terence Crawford, Al McCoy, Jose Luis Ramirez, Rafael Limon, Yoko Gushiken, Ayub Kalule, Vasyl Lomachenko, Hector Camacho, Antonio Tarver, Daniel Zaragoza, Sergio Martinez, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Michael Moorer, Oleksandr Usyk, Zab Judah, Johnny Wilson, Naseem Hamed.
Lew Tender perhaps the most romantic/ironic case listed. Topping our list anytime. And Sweat Pea, a sentimental favorite as well. Good Listing!
Great list, but Whitaker over Hagler? Come on!
Yep, due to the fact that he won an Olympic Gold medal and titles in 4 different divisions. But putting Manny before Hagler is straight BS!
What Dave Farrell said, seriously.
The omission of Camacho is glaring
WBO title, okay.
Did you ever hear of Michael Moorer? Bad research.
Think the list said “all-time best” Moorer doesn’t belong anywhere near those nouns
Tiger Flowers over Calzaghe? Flowers was KO’d more than half a dozen times even before winning the title from Greb, in a questionable decision for some. Calzaghe never lost.
Greb was far from his prime when he fought Flowers.
What about Joe “The Boss” Hipp?
Sweet Pea never defeated the The Best Ever, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. In fact Whitaker ran away from him. Julio Chavez Sr. won.
You must be kidding: that was a blatant robbery!
Pacquiao should be #1. Modern day fighter who belongs firmly up with names like Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Sam Langford, etc. Eight weight divisions. Physical phenom. Absolute warrior. A few years ago it was premature. Time passing has allowed for context. Not only should Manny Pacquiao top this list, he is in the conversation of absolute best ever.
Ranking Pernell above Pacquiao is simply laughable. Pacquiao has a far superior resume, far superior weight climbing accomplishments , far superior longevity. But he’s not American so I guess that puts Pernell above him for you.
Pernell isn’t anywhere near as great as Pacquiao.
What bad research! Pac-man is not number 1? C’mon! Because he’s an Asian guy?