How can I stop my friend from being too protective?

I cant hang around anyone without my friend trying to fight somebody. If i'm play fighting with someone they cant touch me without him giving them a mean look or saying something. He's like ';if you touch her, i'll beat your @ss.'; If I do get into a fight with someone he wont even let me fight for myself. I have told him nicely to stop and if I try to be mean he wont listen. I cant hang out with boys or he'll threaten them. I love my friend and he's like a brother to me so I dont want to be mean and tell him to stay away from me. He has saved me a few times from some bad situations, but I dont want him threatening people all the time. If i'm arund my boyfriend he'll watch us and if my boyfriend starts an argument he'll jump into the argument. He almost got into a fight with the guy I like because he said something bad about me and I really dont care about what he said. How do I tell him to stop being protective when he wont listen?How can I stop my friend from being too protective?
Sit down with him and tell him about it. Tell him you would like him to stop being over protective so that you can stand on your own two feet and defend yourself, but also tell him that he could still protect you if you are in real danger. He seems like a very caring friend so just tell him how you feel about him smothering you with his over protectivness. Like your suffercating or something like that if he cares about you this much then i'm pretty sure he will be willing to sit down and listen to what you have to say.