I own 3 Boxers and they all see the cat (or other cats they encounter) as a living fluffy play toy. Mine don't actually want to hurt the cat, they just see them as play things.
I've seen each of them get clawed in the face, and just ignore it.
The thing is with a Boxer, they see a cat pull up and start to swat with its claws, they do their "boxer" act and swat back with their paws. Which given the disparity in size and reach usually means the cat gets knocked head over tail several times, and before it recovers it bearings the dog has it pinned to the ground.
Ocaisonally a cat will get a good hit in, but its usually ignored until the end of "play time"
