In this multi part series we will breakdown Mike Tyson’s complete boxing game. A must read for fans of boxing and MMA alike.

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In part one of this series, we examined Cus D’ Amato’s concept of attacking at an angle that prevents your opponent from striking back and we elaborated on how Mike Tyson would just move to his opponent’s side and attack with vicious power.

Keeping an orthodox or southpaw stance is important in boxing as this is a fighter’s “base of operations.” Most orthodox boxers will use proper footwork and fight to keep their stance with their left hand in front and their power hand in the back.

Below, you can see a Kenny Weldon-inspired drill from one of our training sessions. This drill will help orthodox fighters maintain their stance, pivot correctly and keep their opponents in-front of them at all times. The right uppercut is the weapon of choice here.

Here is a gif/clip of Kenny Weldon teaching a student how to step back and pivot left in order to avoid an opponent coming forward and to the student’s right side. Stepping back a bit before turning is important here. Notice that, when this footwork is done correctly, fighters can place themselves at an advantageous angle in order to attack with the right hand. From this angle, a kickboxer can also attack with a right kick and an MMA fighter can go for a takedown.

This is fundamental footwork used by most orthodox fighters. Mike Tyson on the other hand, instead of keeping an orthodox stance at all costs would often turn to a southpaw stance. Tyson would do this for a variety of reasons.

In the image below you can see two main ones:

A. Tyson moves forward and misses and as his opponent is located close to Mike’s right hand, Tyson turns southpaw to deliver right hooks or uppercuts.

B. Tyson attacks with left punches and opponent moves to Mike’s right side in order to escape. Tyson stops his opponent’s trajectory with right hooks to the head or to the body.

Tyson would also initiate his attack in an orthodox stance and preemptively land in a southpaw stance with his right foot placed on the side of his opponent’s left foot in order to cut the ring/prevent his opponent from moving to the right or catch him with southpaw right hands if he manages to escape.

Keep in mind that turning southpaw works great with Tyson’s peekaboo movement and footwork which will be the focus of our next week’s breakdown. Also an important detail in analyzing this part of his game is that Tyson had power in both hands and that played a key role in his attacking tactics.

That being said let’s examine some examples of southpaw attacks.

Turning southpaw by crossing legs in order to cover distance and cut the ring.

Technique 1

Technique 2

Cutting an angle and attacking from the left side.

Preemptive placement of the right foot to the front

Technique 1

Technique 2: The “Tyson trip”

Technique 3: Another “Tyson trip”

Technique 4: The southpaw left hand

Foot placement follow-ups: Attacking with southpaw right hooks when opponent escapes.

Technique 1

Technique 2

Technique 3

Slip left, “southpaw reset”, attack with right hooks

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Turning southpaw in order to land front right uppercuts.

Technique 1

Technique 2

Technique 3

Technique 4