This is important because left-handers are conditioned to move in a certain way. For years, the safe approach has been to turn left and away from the right. After years of persistence, the movement stopped feeling like a choice and began to feel like instinct.

Facing another left-hander, the same move will turn you directly into a left-hander.

Tim Bradley pointed this out in his breakdown. When two southpaws meet, moves that would normally keep them safe can put them directly in the line of fire. If either man deviates from this direction out of habit, he will meet the opponent’s best blows. Very suitable for this combination.

Russell fights like a guy trying to take up space. He throws the jab, crouches down, then steps behind the jab. He didn’t have to wait long. Hiraoka prefers to give in, set traps, and fight back when the opponent arrives. He’s happy to step back and let the fight come to him.

Russell’s forward push can overwhelm his opponent, but the intervention of another southpaw also puts him in range of the straight left, a punch that Hiraoka authoritatively and one Russell himself relies on equally. If one of them gets into the old habit of going around in circles the same way, he will look at the other with clean eyes.

That’s why this game looks closer than the betting lines might suggest, as Russell can control long distance under pressure while Hiraoka only needs one clean shot to turn the tables, and both are left-handers accustomed to controlling that angle.

On February 21st, that alley belonged to both of them.