Did you know that boxing gloves are primarily made for strength and durability rather than protection? As shocking as this may be, there are many other facts people usually don’t know about boxing gloves.
The history of boxing is an interesting one, and although we will be giving you an insight about the gloves in this blog, there will be some quick facts about the sport as well. So keep on reading!
Weight Of The Boxing Gloves
Beginner-level boxers are typically struck with the question of how heavy the gear should be. The easiest answer is that it is different and varies based on the body and hand mass. Bulkier people will naturally punch harder and need heavier gloves.
In addition to the body’s weight, the gloves used for practice or training sessions are always lighter than the fighting or sparring gear.
If you’re enthusiastic about the sport, buying two different pairs of gloves is recommended for beginner-level training and the tournaments you’ll attend in the future. Here’s a quick weight-to-size guide for choosing the right boxing gloves:
If your body weight is 45-63 kg, you will need ten oz of training gear and 14 oz of fighting gloves. For people with weightage around 65-75 kg, 10-12 oz for practice and 12-14 oz for tournaments is the ideal glove size.
Next up, if you have a mass that reaches up to 95 kgs, the training glove size will be the same as above, whereas the competition gear will be around 16 oz. For the bulkier and brawny lads who cross 100 kg on the mark, 16 oz for the practice gear and 18 oz for sparring will be the ultimate size.
Now, it is fair that you will feel confused with all these oz terms, so let’s break them down for a better and clearer understanding.
Eight Ounce Gloves
The eight oz/ounce gloves are the lightest ones and are only used by kids in special tournaments. 8-ounce gloves can be used in certain fighting events and several Muay Thai bouts of the bottom categories.
Ten Ounce Gloves
The advanced level competitions (like kickboxing, pro-boxing, Golden Gloves) and professional boxers require ten-ounce boxing equipment. Most boxers prefer them as punching bag equipment and general training gloves in the gym.
Twelve Ounce Gloves
The twelve-ounce gloves are an ideal choice because of their utility in almost every boxing category. Their size is the ultimate option, neither too hefty nor too thin to get torn easily.
However, it is advised to use these if you’re a noob or involved in street boxing because they might get damaged in a proper boxing competition.
Fourteen Ounce Gloves
The girthy expert boxers use this size to tackle the skinnier or amateur guys easily to train them and prepare them for bigger fights.
Sixteen Ounce Gloves
The 16 oz gloves are the heaviest and are typically used by pro boxers for their toughest fights. It feels bulkier on the hands but provides endurance, strength, and power when the athlete is in the ring with their opponent.
The Hand Wraps With Boxing Equipment
Initiated in 688 BC, boxing was banned by the state of Rome in 500 C.E. Consequently, the sports enthusiasts looked for alternatives and ended up with bare fist fights as a custom.
Fast forward to the mid-eighteenth century, when boxing had been legalized and was common again, a makeshift padded glove started making rounds. But it was never used for formal tournaments.
The informal rules changed in 1867 when the ninth Marquess of Queensbury, John Douglas, officially accepted the regulations of contemporary sports. After this, gloves were used as the proper boxing gear.
Hand wraps became popular during the 19th and 20th centuries when boxers started facing serious injuries due to insufficient protection in the gear. Gauze and tape became the standard for hand wrapping in the 1920s.
Boxers were able to use an adhesive to fix the gauze for the first time thanks to the introduction of masking tape.
The Inventor of Boxing Gloves
Everyone knows the origins of boxing or the greatest of all time athletes like Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali. But the origin of gloves is not commonly known.
An English professional boxer named Jack Broughton designed the contemporary boxing glove. Like all fighters of his era, Broughton fought with bare knuckles.
He created the muffler-style gloves so elite sportspeople could fight at the club level without risking significant injuries. Broughton established the first set of boxing guidelines.
The novice competition’s rules were slowly established, and skintight or minimally cushioned leather mitts started appearing more frequently.
It can be challenging to buy boxing gloves that fit you perfectly and are weight appropriate, too. Infinitude Fight has elite-quality leather gloves that can be customized as per your style and need, whether it’s an external design or the type of padding.
