In Boxing, besides being the generic term for one who participates directly in the fighting, a Boxer is a fighter who practices the Sweet Science. A Boxer will rely heavily on his jab and stay to the outside (meaning at a good distance). They tend to have excellent defense and land a high percentage of their blows. Basically, a Boxer actually does everything their Coach tells them too. A good example of a "Boxer" is Pernell Whitaker.

The opposite of a Boxer is a Slugger. A good example of a slugger is Mike Tyson. They have tremendous power in their punches and keep throwing blows until the KO punch lands. In something like the Tough Man Contest everyone is either a slugger, or trying to be one.

Sluggers tend to be more "exciting" to watch by people who don't overly like boxing. A fight with a big slugger or two will probably end in a KO. Many boxers will go the distance during many of their fights and win on points. Very often big fans of Boxing like to watch boxers.

A Boxer with the power of a slugger is a terrifying thing indeed.

Boxing is a sport practiced by two boxers in a ring, with a single referee.

Speaking generally*, there are 4 styles of boxing:

The Boxer: the boxer attempts to win the fight by striking his opponent while avoiding being struck. Boxers generally win many contests via decision, resulting in a low KO percentage. Many Boxers are adept counterpunchers. Boxers may depend on their boxing skills, or on athletic ability. Examples of Boxers who use skills are Billy Conn, Pernell Whittaker, and Willy Pep. Examples of Boxers who use athletic ability are Muhammed Ali and Roy Jones Jr. Boxers need good reflexes and excellent timing. Boxers have trouble with Swarmers.

The Swarmer: the Swarmer attempts to win a fight by overwhelming his opponent's defense with the volume of his punches. Good Swarmers shut down an opponent's offense by forcing them to spend all their energy covering up. Swarmers must have excellent stamina, and the best of them, Rocky Marciano, entered all of his fights in almost inhuman physical condition. Other notable Swarmers are Joe Frazier, Jake Lamotta, and Mike Tyson in his early years. Swarmers have trouble with Sluggers, and with Boxer-Punchers with sufficient power.

The Slugger: the Slugger depends on his punching power to win a fight. A Slugger will take punches to deliver punches, and thus one of the most important things a slugger needs is a good chin. The other is punching power. Mike Tyson in his later years has become a Slugger. Probably the best Slugger of all time was George Foreman. Sluggers have problems with Boxers, and Boxer-Punchers of sufficient skill.

The Boxer-Puncher: the most versatile style, the Boxer-Puncher uses his boxing skills to set up his power shots. Good Boxer-Punchers must be versatile, and able to think on their feet. They will have the skills to outbox the Slugger, the power to stop the Swarmer's attack, and will match the pure Boxer's skills with skills and punching power. Outstanding Boxer-Punchers include many legends: the heavyweight Joe Louis, the incomparable Sugar Ray Robinson, who many consider to be the best welterweight as well as in the top 2 or 3 middleweights of all time, welterweight legend Henry Armstrong, middleweights Carlos Monzon and Marvin Hagler, strawweight/junior flyweight Ricardo Lopez, light-heavyweight Archie Moore, and many more.

* - Most fighters are not a pure expression of a single style. Many of the best can (could), and do (did), switch styles from time to time as needed, and most fighters fit somewhere on a continuum, being somewhere between a boxer-puncher and a pure boxer, for example, or a swarmer that has elements of the pure boxer in his style.

History

The Boxer breed of dog was developed in Germany in the 1800s from several other breeds, such as the Great Dane, Bulldog, and Mastiff. Apparently the Germans just couldn't get enough deadly fighting dogs. Not to say that the Boxer is by nature a vicious animal, most are very friendly. They were, however, bred to fight. In fact, the name Boxer is derived from the way the dog strikes with its front paws in combat. It was intended for fighting, hunting, and bull-baiting. The dogs were also used for everything from pulling carts to performing in circuses. In 1904 the American Kennel Club first recognized the breed, and its first championship was finished in 1915. The Boxer is in the working group of dogs.

Appearance

Boxers are medium-large dogs, around 50-75 pounds and 21-25 inches tall. Their bodies are very lean and muscular, with taut skin and a short coat. Their fur is either fawn or brindle (a pattern of odd brown and black stripes and spots), with black snouts and white underbellies and chests. Sometimes the white markings extend onto the face. According to the AKC, if white fur covers more than 1/3rd of the body, the Boxer is disqualified. I once met an all-white Boxer, but it was probably part Pitbull, or some sort of genetic defect. In addition, most Boxers have their tails chopped short and their ears propped up at an early age. Recently many owners have begun to see this as cruel and have stopped doing one or both. Of the three Boxers I've owned, one had her ears up and tail docked, one had his ears down and tail intact, and the current one has her ears down and tail docked.

Temperament

The Boxer should be confident, happy, playful, curious, and very energetic. They are very loyal and affectionate dogs. In my experience they have gotten along very well with people, including (especially) children, but not very well with other dogs. My second Boxer, Sport, was the neighborhood bully and beat up every dog he could get his paws on. Boxers are excellent guard dogs.

References:
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/boxer.cfm
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/boxer.htm

An album by the indie rock band The National, Boxer is a moody blend of grand paranoia and disturbing intimacy. Matt Berninger's trademark baritone conveys a deep, dreamy sense of melancholy, without being maudlin or melodramatic.

Tracks like Mistaken For Strangers and Guest Room seem like covers of Smiths B-Sides, while other tracks seem to emulate the dread and weight of Nick Cave's Murder Ballads. Offerings like Fake Empire and Start a War feel wide and expansive, masterful in their scope, which is countered by songs like Slow Show, which feels immediate and oddly romantic.

Boxer is the sort of slow build record that doesn't make an impression upon the first few listens, but which induces a sharp pang of longing after a proper gestation period. The songs do not stick in your mind, frustrating your every thought, but rather run parallel to your thoughts for weeks on end, songs like Racing Like a Pro and Squalor Victoria seem perfectly suited for this type of auditory haunting. This album isn't the sort of music I would listen to every day, but it is the sort of music I must have access to, for my own peace of mind.

A fictional biography of the band, based on Boxer:

The National was a grand hotel in New York City in the Fifties. The bell hops all wore proper uniforms and smiles. The ashtrays were emptied every hour, were filled with black sand, and had a stylized N stamped into them.

The house band played every evening in the hotel bar. Only a single recording exists of their music, a cover of "You Belong To Me" as sung by Dean Martin. They performed together for seven years, before the death of their lead singer in a car accident.

Track List

Fake Empire
Mistaken For Strangers
Brainy
Squalor Victoria
Green Gloves
Slow Show
Apartment Story
Start a War
Guest Room
Racing Like a Pro
Ada
Gospel

Box"er (?), n.

One who packs boxes.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Box"er, n.

One who boxes; a pugilist.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Box"er, n.

A member of a powerful Chinese organization which committed numerous outrages on Europeans and Christian converts in the uprising against foreigners in 1900. Various names, as "League of United Patriots" and "Great Knife [or Sword] Society," have been given as the Chinese name of the organization; why the members were called Boxers is uncertain.

 

© Webster 1913.