What are the different boxing styles and how do they differ?

Many will say that boxing is a simple and primitive sport – just punch with gloves, and that’s it. But this is fundamentally wrong: the quadrangular ring hides so many styles and tactics that your eyes run wild. That’s what we’ll discuss today.

Puncher
The puncher style is the basis of the basics. The tactics of this style are in its name: to close the distance and deliver a powerful blow or series that will knock out the opponent. And for this, a boxer needs two forces, namely physical and explosive (it is the one that will help to put out the light with one blow). But this style also has its drawbacks – the puncher’s tactics are easy to calculate, and many of them do not have enough stamina for 10-12 rounds. The truth is that a puncher always has a chance, you should never forget.

Famous punchers : Earnie Shavers, Tommy Morrison, David Tua, Roberto Duran, Shannon Briggs, Gennady Golovkin

Boxer-puncher
The essence of this style is also simple: a puncher with cool technique. Such boxers are already more diverse in tactics and can both work in close combat and sting with a jab. But the main trump card in the sleeve of a boxer-puncher is intelligence – he perfectly reads the opponent’s tactics and can rebuild his own during the fight. That is why many of them took big titles, and some even became legends.

Famous boxers-punchers: Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Anthony Joshua, Terence Crawford

Counterpuncher
This style already works “from the opposite” – to defend against a pressing opponent and deliver a counter-punch. Such boxers pay a lot of attention to defense and build tactics for a fight from the opponent’s mistakes. And for this, a boxer must have excellent reaction, reflexes and technique, as well as chess intelligence – it is not enough to master dives, blocks and dodges, you also need to understand at what moment to use them to open a window for a counter-attack.

And dynamite in your fists never hurts: otherwise you won’t knock out Manny Pacquiao:

Notable Counter Punchers : James Toney, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, Juan Manuel Marquez, Gervonta Davis, Canelo Alvarez

Igrovik (outfighter)
An ideal style for amateurs, but very rare in professional boxing. Game players try to work at a long distance, avoiding the opponent’s attacks. These are very fast, agile and light on their feet boxers with perfectly honed technique.

But don’t think that they have pillow-arms: they knock out outfighters due to accuracy (the same “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”). True, this style has a drawback – a high risk of “playing too much” and missing a heavy blow.

Famous outfighters : Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr., Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk

Slugger
There is power, no need for technique – that is the essence of a slugger. The disadvantages of such boxers are obvious: they are clumsy and have serious gaps in technique. However, they also have a serious advantage in the form of monstrous physical strength, due to which they can put out the opponent’s light with one hook or uppercut. So if you let a slugger into close combat, be prepared to fly into a knockout – a boxer of this style can withstand a punch very well, so either keep him at a distance or sting with counterattacks.

Real tanks from the world of boxing.

Famous sluggers : George Foreman, Max Baer, Rocky Marciano, Deontay Wilder

Swarmer
And this is not a tank, but a bulldozer. The swarmer’s tactics for a fight are to press, press and press again. Such boxers like to work at close-to-medium range and work a lot on the opponent’s body to knock him out of breath. The swarmer himself has more than enough stamina, and he can withstand a punch very well – if you want to become a pressing machine, there is no other way. But he is not a fool in defense either: a lot of dives and head movements make it very difficult for the opponent to hit him.

Notable Swarmers : Jake LaMotta, Joe Frazier, Ray Mercer, Joe Calzaghe, Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao

Rusher
A very rare and spectacular style, but also very problematic. Rushers start putting pressure on their opponents with series of punches from the first second, almost without thinking about defense. Yes, such boxers often give us spectacular knockouts, but when the gas tank runs out, problems begin – there is no more strength to press, and they cannot offer any other tactics. This is clearly seen in the career of the late Mike Tyson: Francois Botha and Clifford Etienne could not withstand his onslaught, but Lennox Lewis not only withstood it, but also sent “Iron Mike” to sleep in the 8th round.

Peek-a-boo
And what about young Tyson – what style did the main knockout machine in boxing have? The author’s, from Cus D’Amato himself: he put the essence of peek-a-boo into close-range defense, the basis of which were sharp dives and dodges with a clamped block. During the opponent’s attacks, Mike seemed to hide behind his hands, while swinging the “pendulum” from side to side: such “hide and seek” from the world of boxing. And when “Iron Mike” began the attack, the opponent immediately forgot about the victory – almost no one could withstand explosive blows on the jump.

However, Mike was not the first Pikabu user: before him, Floyd Patterson, who was also a student of the legendary Cus, fought in this style.

Spoiler
These boxers… love bicycles without a saddle, to put it politely. The essence of this style is to not let the opponent win by any means necessary. Spoilers spend a lot of time in the clinch, do not shy away from dirty tricks, often simulate and complain to the judges. But what you can’t take away from them is their intelligence: such boxers defend themselves well and read the tactics of their opponents at a cosmic level. So this is a story from the category “winners are not judged”.

Known Spoilers : Wladimir Klitschko, Andre Ward, Orlando Salido, Bernard Hopkins in Rematch with Roy Jones Jr.