Firpo finally retired after compiling a record of 32 wins and 6 losses in 38 fights, with 26 wins by knockout. In 2003, he was named by the Ring Magazine as one of the 100 greatest punchers of all time. Anyone who knocked Dempsey out of the ring could hit.....HARD.
the best swarmers are guys who could also be sluggers..its just that they are good enough...in good enough shape..and can move enough that they are swarmers first. dempsey for example had a pretty good one punch shot..and he would have been a top 20 heavyweight even if his feet had been in cement and he could have only thrown 30 punches a round. A guy like Rocky Marciano while not the biggest one punch guy was also a hybrid.....Tyson at his very very best could be a swarmer...but usually he was more of a skilled slugger.
I think I agree with Critic the most. A "Brawler" is a Puncher or Puncher(-Swarmer?) that works in close range usually with an extremely pressure oriented style. Where as a Puncher (slugger) is not limited to any specific range or punch volume. Pure Boxer - skill Puncher - power Swarmer - will Hybrids - Boxer-Puncher, Brawler, etc...
Have to say I never cared for the term "volume puncher", since by depending on who u ask, one would have to throw x amount of punches to be a volume puncher. I always think of swarmers as fighters who like to fight at close range on the inside, whereas sluggers like to fight toe to toe and of course boxers, fight from the outside. Also, we hear the term boxer-puncher, why do we never hear "swarmer-puncher?"
This is how I always thought of the term swarmer. I've seen people categorize the old emmanuel and Mike Tyson as swarmers. Those guys didn't fight on the inside though. I always thought swarmers are Henry Armstrong, Jack Dempsey, Julio Cesar Chavez, Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier, etc. Is it the high pressure and volume OR inside fighting that makes a swarmer?
Nigel Benn, who fought somewhere between being a swarmer and a slugger (very similar to a young Mike Tyson in that respect) managed to beat Gerald McClellan in their tragic fight. Gerald McClellan had MONSTROUS power and good skills for a slugger. Every punch he threw had intentions so bad that they were illegal in many countries.
Roberto Duran actually could box. He didn't play the role of a swarmer against Barkley. He boxed him and kept his range. Think Tim Bradley vs Holt he swarmed him, but against Peterson he did swarm some, but he also boxed. Some guys are versatile and don't necessarily fit in just one category.
I agree that Duran was not a pure Swarmer. I do not believe Dempsey was either. I have always classed him as more of a Boxer/Puncher, who did swarm sometimes. There is a difference between someone who attacks and a Swarmer. The better fighter will win most of the time, regardless of the styles, but if the two boxers are fairly even otherwise, styles will often determine the outcome.
