WELCOME TO OUR BOXING GLOVES GUIDE.
On this page you will learn everything you need to know about boxing gloves. We explain what types of boxing gloves there are. How to find the right size for you and what you should look out for in general. Once you've read our guide, you'll know everything you need to know about boxing gloves.
Contents:
The history of boxing gloves
What types of boxing gloves are available
Velcro fastening or lacing
What size do I need
Which material should I use?
How do I care for my boxing gloves?
How expensive are boxing gloves
How long do boxing gloves last
THE HISTORY OF BOXING GLOVES
Boxing gloves as we know them today have been worn since the publication of the Queensberry rules in 1867. Since 1892, fights have only been fought according to the Queensberry rules. In addition to the wearing of boxing gloves, these include u.a. also that counting to 10 and the lap times of 3 minutes and 1 minute break.
But the history of the first gloves goes back even further into the past.
The first documentation of boxing glove-like fist protectors dates back to the 2nd century by Clement of Alexandria. He claimed that boxing gloves were invented by Amycus, the mythological son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.
Since Clement of Alexandria was a church writer and the actual existence of Greek gods cannot be proven, it is doubtful that his statements are correct.
WHAT TYPES OF BOXING GLOVES ARE THERE
APPLIANCE GLOVES
Sandbag gloves or ball gloves are gloves that are specially designed for training on a sandbag or punching bag. They are much smaller and lighter than their big brothers and are ideal for training quick combinations on the punching bag or boxing claw. Another big advantage of equipment gloves is that you can save your normal boxing gloves and don't have to buy new ones so quickly.
CLASSIC BOXING GLOVES
Classic boxing gloves are specially made for one thing. Boxing. The focus here is really only on fist fighting. Compared to Muay Thai gloves, classic boxing gloves are cut longer to provide more stability in the wrist and have no additional padding on the edges of the hand.
Material: Outer surface leather (0.8 mm) / inner surface new, durable Rexion synthetic leather
padded "Grip Line" for a secure grip and thumb strap for better protection
Ventilation holes in the palm of the hand
very good fit, thanks to a high-quality, pre-curved foam inner part
stabilising & practical Velcro fastener for easy on/off
MUAY THAI BOXING GLOVES
Boxing gloves that are specially developed for Thai boxing have small differences to standard boxing gloves.
One of the most important techniques in Muay Thai is the clinch. In the clinch, the opponents wrestle standing up and try to hurt their opponent with knee strikes and elbow strikes.
In order to control your opponent in the clinch, you need a certain degree of freedom of movement in your hands, which you don't have with normal boxing gloves The shorter cut gives the fighters more control in the gloves, so that grips and clinching techniques can be performed better.
Another difference is the padding on the palm. Unlike boxing, Muay Thai involves many kicking techniques. If you try to block them, it can be quite painful, as a shin bone comes flying at you with full force. For protection, padding is sewn into the edge of the boxing gloves to prevent injuries when blocking.
MMA GLOVES
MMA is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. The mixture of different fighting systems also poses completely new challenges for protective clothing.
MMA glovesMust offer hands and opponents enough protection and also provide enough freedom to apply levers and grips.
Anyone who has ever seen MMA fights will have realised that they often end in bloodshed. MMA competition gloves use a 4 Oz shock-absorbing padding, which favours the formation of cuts.
LACING OR VELCRO FASTENING
Boxing gloves used to be made exclusively with laces. In modern times, when boxing became more and more a popular sport, the Velcro fastener received more and more attention and has almost completely replaced lacing in everyday training, as it is much easier to handle.
In professional competitions, however, boxing gloves with laces are still almost exclusively used today. These can be laced up tighter and fit much more securely than models with Velcro fasteners.
BOXING GLOVES SIZES
The size of boxing gloves is given in ounces and is a unit of weight in English-speaking countries. One ounce corresponds to 28.35 grams. The space in the boxing gloves does not change with a larger number of ounces, only the amount of padding used increases. However, it is not prescribed where the padding must be placed, so Cleto Reyes boxing gloves, for example, are known as KO gloves because their padding is quite thin on the hitting area.
The sizes used may vary from club to club. Some clubs allow z.B. not to participate in sparring with 12 Oz gloves. Please discuss the requirements of your club with your coach.
Boxing gloves are manufactured in sizes from 4 to 18 oz. Boxing gloves from 4-10 ounces are used for children, teenagers and women.
Professional and amateur associations prescribe 10-oz boxing gloves as the competition size. All larger boxing gloves are used for training or occasionally for beginner fights.
Training gloves are often divided into sparring gloves and training glovesClamps or training gloves. For normal training, such as z.B. 10 and 12 oz gloves are used for prat training or on the punching bag. For sparring and partner training, 14 and 16 oz gloves are usually used. For this reason, professional fighters and ambitious athletes have several pairs of boxing gloves so that they can change them depending on the training situation.
Our recommendation would be a pair with 14 ounces, so you are well equipped for all areas.
Article:
How to choose your boxing gloves
WHICH MATERIAL SHOULD I USE
There are gloves made of PU, genuine leather and semi-leather, but what is the difference?
Firstly, of course, the price. Synthetic leather and semi-leather are cheaper because the raw materials used are cheaper to obtain. However, this does not automatically mean that boxing gloves made from synthetic fibres have to be worse.
Semi-leather in particular is a multi-layered, high-quality imitation leather and can certainly keep up with real leather and even has certain advantages. Semi-leather is easy to care for, tear-resistant and available in all colours and variations. In addition, no animals have to die during production, which also makes the gloves attractive for animal welfare-conscious fighters. The biggest disadvantage is that it is not breathable and you should always air your gloves well after training and preferably use special odour killers.
Leather is still the premium raw material for combat sports equipment today. It is robust, breathable and adaptable. However, it also requires more care as it can otherwise become brittle and cracked.
Boxing gloves made of PU are usually made of very cheap synthetic leather. This is often found in boxing gloves in the price range up to 80CHF. These are only recommended to a limited extent z.B. if you are not sure whether you really want to do the sport permanently. You can usually recognise them by the pungent smell of plastic. In this case, it's better to go for a higher quality pair.
CARE OF BOXING GLOVES
If you can call genuine leather gloves your own, you should care for them regularly to enjoy them for a long time. Leather breathes and reacts to external influences. You can visualise this very well using the example of human skin. If it dries out, it becomes brittle, cracked and starts to hurt. It is no different with leather boxing gloves. In addition, there is the constant contact with sweat, the salt content removes moisture from the leather and it dries out. In the case of boxing equipment, this phenomenon is most frequently seen with punching bags in Thailand. The equipment is exposed to extreme stress on a daily basis and is sometimes not protected from direct sunlight. As a result, it quickly cracks and becomes brittle.
You should regularly wipe your leather equipment with a damp cloth to remove sweat residue and occasionally treat it with a leather care product to moisturise the leather and prevent it from becoming brittle and cracking.
To protect your boxing gloves from odour, you should air them well after every training session and ideally use an odour neutraliser, which has an antibacterial effect and draws moisture out of the gloves. Alternatively, you can also use newspaper, which also absorbs moisture.
For more tips against the odour, you should read this article:
Boxing gloves stink - what you can do about the odour in your boxing gloves
HOW EXPENSIVE ARE BOXING GLOVES
This is certainly one of the most frequently asked questions and unfortunately cannot be answered in general. To find out what price you need to spend on boxing gloves, you should first know your needs.
Are you an absolute beginner or an ambitious professional? As a beginner, you won't take part in sparring sessions and learn the first basic techniques on the punching bag or on the claw. Inexpensive boxing gloves in the price range of 50.00 - 50.00 are usually sufficient for this 80.00CHF. If you don't like the sport after all, at least you haven't made a big loss.
If you have already gained some experience or are sure that you will be practising this sport over a longer period of time, you can buy a better pair. In the price range from 80.00 to 120.00 you will find very good boxing gloves with which you can have a lot of fun. Of course, there are also plenty of pairs that are more expensive. For a good pair made of genuine leather, you should expect to pay around CHF 100 or more.
HOW LONG DO BOXING GLOVES LAST
Boxing gloves are objects subject to wear and tear. Even if you can't see it at first glance, they lose their protective function with intensive use. Regular use causes the padding to lose its shock-absorbing properties and become soft.
This can be easily compared to a sofa or a mattress. Over time, the lying or sitting surface becomes soft and you can feel a hollow forming.
Ideally, you should use two separate pairs for sansack and prat training, as well as for sparring. If you only have one pair and train regularly, you should think about buying a new pair after a year. You can then continue to use the old pair for equipment training.
We hope you enjoyed our little boxing gloves guide and that all your questions about boxing gloves have been answered. If not, just write them in the comments and we will answer them immediately and expand the guide accordingly.
Until then, stay sporty and subscribe to the newsletter!
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