Practical type, pugilist punching others (7)
I believe the answer is:
realist
'practical type' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'pugilist punching others' is the wordplay.
'pugilist' becomes 'Ali' (Muhammad Ali - a pugilist is a boxer).
'punching' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters punch or puncture others).
'others' becomes 'rest' (eg the rest of a group).
'ali' going inside 'rest' is 'REALIST'.
(Other definitions for realist that I've seen before include "Pragmatic type" , "Saltier (anag.)" , "Non-dreamer?" , "Person who sees things without illusions" , "Practical type" .)