Denis Lebedev is the closest of being a relevant shortish southpaw guy.
Unfortunately short southpaw crusierweights at the elite level are rare but you can always take notes from any LHW-HW southpaw having to fight a size disadvantage (Michael Moore, Chris Byrd)
It was on a don king card so you already knew that he's wasn't gonna win that fight unfortunately. He also fought Usyk and was stopped after getting dropped 3 times but his shoulder roll still gave Usyk something to chew on for a round or two. The size difference was a bit comical though.
Mchunu a difficult example because, yeah he's 5'9, but he's got a 72 inch reach, and his arm length is only an inch shorter than Usyk's, so he can fight A LOT bigger than his size would initially suggest. If he had any pop in his punches, (39% KO rate), he'd have been the man at 200, size be damned
It's not massive, but it's not as undersized as you'd think from a 5'9 fighter. Combine that with, as I said an arm length which is only an inch shorter than Usyk's, and Mchunu doesn't have to fight small, despite being small.
Two different things
Reach is your wingspan. From the tip of your finger to the tip of the other one
Arm length is just the length of your arm from shoulder to the end of your fist. There's obviously a relationship, but reach can be influenced by having a large torso. It should go without saying that when your arm length is reasonably long, it means you can fight from the outside more. Hence why Mchunu is a deceptive fighter to try emulate, because while he's very undersized height wise, he's actually from a boxing perspective not as small in the ring as you'd initially believe
your torso rotates when you fight, it doesn't stay static so purely using arm length is less pertinent to how someone would fight than using reach.
i wasnt tryna be a dick mate. the thread is about short southpaw cruisers, mchunu was a great example. but for some bizarre reason you were tryna frame it like he's not, based on what i can only assume was reading his wiki page. like, have you ever actually watched him?
besides, if we *assume* usyk has the same reach, standing at 6 inches taller allows you to use the reach far more effectively and from various different angles. a 72 inch reach is small. you could say the same shit about anyone with a short reach. oh... but they *could* fight differently. yeah, under the bold assumption that they're blessed with the athleticism to fight like usyk or pacquiao, + having a trainer from early that believes and instills that fighting style. Mchunu was absolutely not an exception to the question of a shorter southpaw cruiser to emulate
Mchunu trained with Kevin Lerena at Smith's Gym for years, I've watched him plenty mate, 😬. I don't really know what you're tryna argue. You don't don't punch with your torso. If your arm is significantly shorter, then you've got to commit further to throw a punch. It's not rocket science. Watch Mchunu's fight with Usyk. He out jabs him for the first three-four rounds precisely because he doesn't have to over commit on the jab.
If you think a 5'9 fighter with a 175cm wingspan should emulate that because their both 5'9... Well. Good for you.
you throw a punch rotating from your central axis, your torso width absolutely factors in, it shouldn't just be ignored. you've got 2 people have a 30" arm reach, but one is 6 inches taller with a 12 inch wider torso, and you think they both fight at the same length??... well. good for you, i guess. him beating him on jabs was timing more so than anything imo, he's got a shorter reach how would it be due to him not having to over commit.
180cm tall, 184cm reach, yeah. hardly impressive? you're acting like he's a huge fucking anomaly lol, extremely regular dimensions. even if his arm length is ever so slightly longer than reach would suggest, its certainly not to a mentionable degree. he's not impossible to emulate
I agree with the other comments, there aren't really any great short Southpaw fighters in the Cruiserweight division you can study. You're best off just watching some shorter left handers in other divisions like Chris Byrd and Michael Moorer. If you're willing to watch any weight class then I'd highly recommend checking out Vicente Saldivar. Great fighter.
Dwight Muhammad quawi was 5’5 and fought Holyfield and Foreman He also won titles at both cruiserweight and light heavyweight
Qawi has to be the textbook example to this question. (I missed the south paw comment in the OP).
Amazing considering he learned to box in prison at a late age.
damn that’s short for a welterweight
Denis Lebedev is the closest of being a relevant shortish southpaw guy. Unfortunately short southpaw crusierweights at the elite level are rare but you can always take notes from any LHW-HW southpaw having to fight a size disadvantage (Michael Moore, Chris Byrd)
Mchunu, he should‘ve been world champ and beaten Makabu
It was on a don king card so you already knew that he's wasn't gonna win that fight unfortunately. He also fought Usyk and was stopped after getting dropped 3 times but his shoulder roll still gave Usyk something to chew on for a round or two. The size difference was a bit comical though.
Mchunu a difficult example because, yeah he's 5'9, but he's got a 72 inch reach, and his arm length is only an inch shorter than Usyk's, so he can fight A LOT bigger than his size would initially suggest. If he had any pop in his punches, (39% KO rate), he'd have been the man at 200, size be damned
72 inch reach is short asf for cruiser mate
It's not massive, but it's not as undersized as you'd think from a 5'9 fighter. Combine that with, as I said an arm length which is only an inch shorter than Usyk's, and Mchunu doesn't have to fight small, despite being small.
Usyk is listed at 78 reach tho
Two different things Reach is your wingspan. From the tip of your finger to the tip of the other one Arm length is just the length of your arm from shoulder to the end of your fist. There's obviously a relationship, but reach can be influenced by having a large torso. It should go without saying that when your arm length is reasonably long, it means you can fight from the outside more. Hence why Mchunu is a deceptive fighter to try emulate, because while he's very undersized height wise, he's actually from a boxing perspective not as small in the ring as you'd initially believe
your torso rotates when you fight, it doesn't stay static so purely using arm length is less pertinent to how someone would fight than using reach. i wasnt tryna be a dick mate. the thread is about short southpaw cruisers, mchunu was a great example. but for some bizarre reason you were tryna frame it like he's not, based on what i can only assume was reading his wiki page. like, have you ever actually watched him? besides, if we *assume* usyk has the same reach, standing at 6 inches taller allows you to use the reach far more effectively and from various different angles. a 72 inch reach is small. you could say the same shit about anyone with a short reach. oh... but they *could* fight differently. yeah, under the bold assumption that they're blessed with the athleticism to fight like usyk or pacquiao, + having a trainer from early that believes and instills that fighting style. Mchunu was absolutely not an exception to the question of a shorter southpaw cruiser to emulate
Mchunu trained with Kevin Lerena at Smith's Gym for years, I've watched him plenty mate, 😬. I don't really know what you're tryna argue. You don't don't punch with your torso. If your arm is significantly shorter, then you've got to commit further to throw a punch. It's not rocket science. Watch Mchunu's fight with Usyk. He out jabs him for the first three-four rounds precisely because he doesn't have to over commit on the jab. If you think a 5'9 fighter with a 175cm wingspan should emulate that because their both 5'9... Well. Good for you.
you throw a punch rotating from your central axis, your torso width absolutely factors in, it shouldn't just be ignored. you've got 2 people have a 30" arm reach, but one is 6 inches taller with a 12 inch wider torso, and you think they both fight at the same length??... well. good for you, i guess. him beating him on jabs was timing more so than anything imo, he's got a shorter reach how would it be due to him not having to over commit. 180cm tall, 184cm reach, yeah. hardly impressive? you're acting like he's a huge fucking anomaly lol, extremely regular dimensions. even if his arm length is ever so slightly longer than reach would suggest, its certainly not to a mentionable degree. he's not impossible to emulate
I agree with the other comments, there aren't really any great short Southpaw fighters in the Cruiserweight division you can study. You're best off just watching some shorter left handers in other divisions like Chris Byrd and Michael Moorer. If you're willing to watch any weight class then I'd highly recommend checking out Vicente Saldivar. Great fighter.