My favorite part of [good] boxing gyms is that anyone who comes in there expecting to do violence quickly gets paired with the most seasoned opponents who put them back in line. These violent types then either never show up again, or get the hint and start playing nice.
Personally I like boxing because there's something incredibly confidence building about knowing that you can handle getting punched in the face and keep going. Very empowering.
It's a lot less unpleasant than most people imagine.
They experience less desire to assert themselves physically because they understand who they are and feel more secure in themselves.
They understand that you can’t really tell who is and isn’t worth getting into an altercation with just by looking at a person. There are a lot of very unassuming people who are quite good at handling themselves physically.
Out of continually confronting contained (often consensual) violence they develop a deep respect for what people, both themselves and others, are capable of. The idea of casually entering into real violence without good reason is not taken lightly.