Unlike most sportswear, different boxing gloves have different weights and are sized accordingly. But contrary to what you may think, the weight of the gloves isn’t due to heavy weights added to make your punches harder. Boxing gloves are weighted for extra protection.
Let’s explore what that means and how you can choose the best boxing gloves for your needs.
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How Are Boxing Gloves Sized?
Hands don’t vary too drastically in size from person to person so boxing gloves don’t need to be sized according to small, medium and large sizes. Instead, they’re sized according to their weight in ounces (oz). To choose the right size boxing gloves for you, you need to think about your own weight, which impacts your punching power, and what activities you need the boxing gloves for.
Of course, a smaller person can have a stronger punch than a larger person in some cases, however, when training regularly, your weight is one of the most important factors determining your strength and ability. That’s because boxing punches aren’t just about arm strength; when throwing a jab, for example, the power is first generated in your rear foot and travels through your body as you swing your leading arm forward to strike your opponent or equipment. Therefore, the heavier the person, generally the stronger the punch.
This is also why opponents in professional boxing matches are chosen within strict weight classes, of which there are 17, to ensure a fair fight.
The weight classes just have an upper limit, as follows:
- minimumweight – 105 lbs (48 kg)
- light flyweight – 108 lbs (49 kg)
- flyweight – 112 lbs (51 kg)
- super flyweight – 115 lbs (52 kg)
- bantamweight – 118 lbs (53.5 kg)
- super bantamweight – 122 lbs (55 kg)
- featherweight – 126 lbs (57 kg)
- super featherweight – 130 lbs (59 kg)
- lightweight – 135 lbs (61 kg)
- super lightweight – 140 lbs (63.5 kg)
- welterweight – 147 lbs (67 kg)
- super welterweight – 154 lbs (70 kg)
- middleweight – 160 lbs (72.5 kg)
- super middleweight – 168 lbs (76 kg)
- light heavyweight – 175 lbs (79 kg)
- cruiserweight – 200 lbs (91 kg)
- heavyweight – unlimited
Women’s boxing weight classes are the same as men’s, so choosing men’s boxing gloves also has the same criteria as women’s – predominantly weight rather than height or hand size.
What Are the Size of Boxing Gloves?
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Boxing gloves are sized according to their weight, from 6 oz to 18 oz, and are recommended for users based on their own weight rather than their ability. The weight refers to the actual weight of the glove, which is caused by the amount, or density of the padding inside the glove. The padding is mostly made from synthetic materials like foam these days, but they can also be made from horse hair.
Men and women can choose the right boxing gloves for them according to the following guide:
- People under 45 kg need 6 – 8 oz gloves
- People weighing 46 – 68 kg need 10 – 12 oz gloves
- People weighing 69 – 80 kg need 14 oz gloves
- People over 80 kg need 16 – 18 oz gloves
However, as well as the boxer’s weight being important when choosing what boxing gloves to buy, you also need to think about what activity you’ll be doing. It’s not sufficient to say “boxing” or “punching”, you need to think about what you’ll be hitting, or who.
Do Lighter Boxing Gloves Make You Punch Harder?
As the weight of boxing gloves refers to the amount of padding in the gloves themselves, the more padding, the more cushion on your knuckles when you punch. Therefore, when using lighter gloves, there is much less padding, and your punch will feel harder on your hands.
This offers no benefit when training as using thinner gloves will hurt your hands more when hitting heavy punching bags or focus pads. However, when fighting against a real opponent, having less cushion on your knuckles will also impact them more, giving you a heavier punch to increase your chances of getting that crucial knockout blow. Lighter boxing gloves may hurt your hands more, but they’ll also hurt your opponent more in real boxing matches.
Even heavyweight professional boxers tend to use 10 oz boxing gloves in real fights, so their opponent can feel the full might of their punch without softening the blow with extra padding.
What Ounce Boxing Gloves Do You Need for Sparring?
Sparring gloves will be the complete opposite of the boxing gloves used in real fights.
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When sparring, you’re practising your punches, footwork and combinations to improve your fluidity of movement, speed and reaction time, as well as getting more experience in the ring. But your sparring partner is there to help you train; they’re not your real opponent, so you don’t want to knock them out or hurt them with your heftiest punches, even though you want to practise doing so ready for your real fights. That’s why boxing gloves used for sparring are much thicker and heavier, so you have a thick layer of cushion to protect your hands and your sparring partner’s body from harm.
Heavyweight fighters will usually use the heaviest boxing gloves, so boxers like Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali and Anthony Joshua would all use 18 oz gloves when sparring to protect their sparring partner. Lighter professionals can use boxing gloves that are at least one, but usually two weights higher than they usually use for training. For example, a boxer weighing 67 kg like Floyd Mayweather can use 8 oz gloves for fighting, 12 oz gloves for training, and 16 oz gloves for sparring.
Is it Better to Size Up or Down in Boxing Gloves?
If you’ve tried on a friend’s boxing gloves or borrowed some at your boxing gym and are looking to buy your own pair, you’ll of course want the perfect pair for you, for your comfort and safety. However, in the case that you have to choose between gloves that are slightly too tight or slightly too loose, first bear in mind that you’ll need to wear hand wraps underneath, so you’ll want to size up your boxing gloves to make sure there’s enough room for you to wear your hand wraps.
Maintaining Your Boxing Gloves
As well as needing one pair of boxing gloves for training, one for sparring and one for fighting, you should also buy a couple of boxing gloves of the same size to help you keep your boxing gloves clean. With regular use of the same pair, your boxing gloves will likely become smelly and start to wear down more quickly. If you alternate which you use, you can disinfect your other pair of gloves and leave them to air dry to prevent them from smelling and keep them in good condition so they last longer.
Letting your boxing gloves dry thoroughly after cleaning them is especially important for heavier gloves, as the thicker and denser padding may soak up your sweat as well as the disinfectant you use to clean the inside. If they stay damp they can become breeding grounds for bacteria as well as start to smell stagnant.
The main criteria for helping your boxing gloves last longer by keeping them clean, however, is by making sure your hands and hand wraps are both clean before you wear your boxing gloves. Sweat seeps out of hair follicles onto the skin to wash away bacteria and cool us down when our body temperature rises, so if we remove as much bacteria as possible from our skin, there is little left to fall into our gloves to cause them to smell or become damaged.
So to maintain your boxing gloves as well as possible:
- Wash your hands
- Wear fresh hand wraps
- Alternate which gloves you use each session
- Disinfect your gloves after each use
- Leave them to air dry for at least 24 hours
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