???????????                                                                                                                                                                              

its the piston movements like how a 'boxer' moves his arms and fists side to side...                                                                                                                                                                             

Boxer engines got their name because each piston moves simultaneously in and out rather than alternately, like boxers showing they're ready by clashing their gloved fists against each other before a fight.                                                                                                                                                                             

Thats ruined my theory.. It's got nothing to do with being pants then?                                                                                                                                                                              

Squashy i like urs better lol                                                                                                                                                                              

Oh, and there was me & Johnny thinking you wanted a factual answer  ..............   It's really coz they are smaller in design and fit into a box                                                                                                                                                                              

do they have wet noses as wel                                                                                                                                                                              

Not always Jackie .. .. but they do leave a mess on the floor sometimes. lol                                                                                                                                                                              

According to BMW the very first shaft drive bike with flat engine layout was called a Spagthorpe Boxer so every flat engine after that was called a 'boxer'. 

Nothing to do with boxing gloves or fighters 

                                                                                                                                                                             

See there is a different reason                                                                                                                                                                               

its because they fall out of box's on the beaches in the south int it ? or was that containers                                                                                                                                                                             

RK   Really ?   http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/boxer.html                                                                                                                                                                                

Incorrect RK. Just because an engine is a flat design it does not make it a Boxer type. ONLY an engine that has pistons that move simultaneously in and out together, rather than alternately, are called boxer's   On a boxer engine, each con rod has its own crank pin as opposed to two rods sharing a crank pin. On a flat engine the pistons would move in relation to each other i.e. one at TDC & one at BDC.   ONLY a boxer engine has two pistons ( use the BMW 2 cyl engine as example ) that will have both pistons at TDC at the same time.Conversley, both pistons are at BDC at the same time.   That is the definition of a boxer engine.                                                                                                                                                                             

Nice one Rob .. I just seen that.                                                                                                                                                                                 

Greasytony        lol keep up the good work
                                                                                                                                                                             

The correct name is horizontally opposed, then the number of cylinders. For example Alfa Roneo flat 12. This engine is a twelve cylinder horizontally opposed lay out. The boxer term came about because the piston and conrod moves like a boxers arm and fist.
Not all BMW aircooled engines are called boxers because they made single cylinder engines aswell, which were half of the boxer engine.

so its not cos if they go over they are up again before you can count to ten,or not??                                                                                                                                                                             

If you can pick one up before 10 you're a stronger gal than me                                                                                                                                                                              

I`m struggling to pick anything up thats why I`m on here!                                                                                                                                                                             

aarrr