Types Of Boxing

Cultures around the world can boast their own forms of martial arts that could be considered boxing. But given the international presence of the English-speaking world, boxing most often refers to the sport that originated in England. One feature that distinguishes the classic, English-derived boxing from other martial arts is that the parts of the body that attack and can be attacked are all limited to the torso and above; most other cultures’ martial arts – e.g., China’s gongfu, Japan’s karate, Brazil’s capoeira, France’s savate - use the legs as well as the arms to attack.

With that said, there is a variety of styles to be found within this sport of boxing. The mark of a good boxer, besides being strong and nimble, is having an individualistic style of boxing. Nonetheless, there are a number of broad terms used to describe boxing styles used by various kinds of boxers. Bobbing and weaving is a style preferred by small and agile fighters, and its guiding principle is counterattack. A boxer who is successful at bobbing and weaving relies upon baiting an opponent’s punches and then striking when the opponent has already thrown his punch and is overextended.

Types Of Boxing

Some dominant boxers from the early and mid-20th century were simple bruisers who lacked any particular style besides punching people very hard. George Foreman and Rocky Marciano are two well-known examples of this. Such boxers rely almost solely on their brute strength, knockout punches, and imperviousness to attacks, as they will get fewer chances to hit their opponents then a nimble fighter would.

Boxing Styles

Another popular style of boxer is called the in-fighter. In-fighters stay close to their opponents and try to put them off balance with many quick jabs and punches. In-fighters need to be quick in order to compensate for the greater chance of getting hit that comes with their style of boxing, and often look for chances to throw knockout or combination punches.

Boxing Style Facts

Contrasted to the in-fighter is the out-fighter style. The out-fighter tries to keep his distance from his opponent and works more on wearing the opponent down. Keeping his distance from the opponent means there are less chances for truly powerful punches, meaning that many out-fighters do not achieve as many knockouts as some other boxers do. A less commonly-seen style of boxing is sometimes called the swarmer. The swarmer boxer uses a combination of bobbing and weaving and in-fighter skills, and most of all depends upon delivering a constant hail of attacks on his opponent. Thus this style of boxing is less common because of the strain it puts on the boxer over the course of a professional career.