Doesn’t it ever sound too boring and rather monotonous to be talking about boxing gloves all the time? To be learning about the ounces, the inches, the padding, the fit? Sounds too theoretical?

Great, read on.

Reality check

As too much information laden as it may sound, selection of the right gloves is half the sport learnt. Remainder of the fight is your skill and strategy. Just so you know,

• Boxing gloves are meant to protect you and your partner from injury during training
• Your boxing gear determines how you would compete in a fight; lighter gloves are the most used gloves in the ring , the real bout
• The right size, weight and fit of the boxing gloves ensures the right speed of hand movement, impact on the opponent and zero chances of damage to be caused to your own bones or muscles

Did you know?

So there you are, all enthused to step into the world of boxing, maybe for your passion or for fitness, but you’re ready to give it a go. You now know that the key equipment you would need to carry in your bag to the boxing club is that one piece of your shiny armor, your boxing gloves. You land in one of the best stores that offer best in range but bang! You are so confused.  So much variety, which is the right one for you?

You tell the shopkeeper you’re a beginner and what is one of the first few questions he asks you? Are you looking for the lace-up boxing gloves or the hook & loop variety? You see, hook & loop gloves are more like Velcro gloves that you can put on quickly and without any assistance, the lace-up category, literally needs lacing up by another individual and hence is more time taking.

Lace and loop grippers with lace-up boxing gloves are however one innovation that was introduced to make life easier for those using this ancient style of gloves – basically, to serve the same purpose as the hook and loop belt in the respective gloves.

Serves the same purpose as the hook and loop fastening, really? Why should we even talk about it and not simply buy a hook and loop design.

To make it quick and short, even with its roots in ancient boxing you just can’t ignore the plus points of the lace-ups (we would talk about it later in the write up) that outweigh the only major downside, not being able to fasten them yourself.  The grippers, take that issue away too – each end of the product holds one end each of the lace, you wound it around the wrist pulling the string to the right level of tightness and voila! There you go.

And then there is the amount of padding you need to know and be savvy about, the right fit for your hand’s silhouette as well as your body weight.

What To Pick For Heavy Bag Work?

Now that is specific! Had you merely begun your love affair with this ferocious sport (or so some would say), there would be obvious answers. Maybe, a 14 – 16oz safe padding in a hook and loop style to allow for a quick, unaided fastening and protection against any injuries.

For someone already set to do some heavy bag work frankly, it could really boil down to your personal preference once you’ve learned the skills and strategy needed to lead the game. Let’s not ignore the key things you would still need to consider. Here they are.

The Padding

This is one thing, you would forever find an important part of boxing gloves discussion. Bag work might sound like a reflection of the real fight to you, it is, but only partially. This stage in your boxing training is really what we said it is, training; apart from sparring that is. What you are looking for in a glove for this is

• Comfort
• Protection
• Control
• Agility & speed

An 8-12oz glove is an optimal choice for the bag work, of course depending on your body weight, lesser the weight, lesser the padding required. If you are a professional fighter, you would probably be using a 10 or 12oz options for bag work – 8oz in the ring. The goal in either case is similar, to have just enough protection against injuries and the flexibility to manage that hand movement without any disruption.

The Design

Here we are, talking about the hooks and loop VS the lace-up gloves. Let’s summarize the key differences between both.

ATTRIBUTES	HOOK & LOOP	LACE UP
Fastening	Unaided; easy to slip on hands	Requires assistance, time taking wearing
Grip	More gripping power due to smaller thumb parts	Bigger thumb parts, designed to avoid possibility of gripping
Control	Lesser stability around the wrist; requires more care during the punching to avoid possible injury	Offer more stability due to better control on how tight the lace needs to be set
Padding	More padded, layers of foam to offer more protection	Lesser padding; meant to land a blow on the opponent without risking one’s own fists

 

Simply put, the lace-up gloves are wound slightly tight around the writs and hence offer more robustness during an actual fight. You would probably have a team to support you to managing putting these on, even with the grippers to help you. These would mostly suit a pro, already much mature in his approach, skill level and strategy to manage himself as well as his fight.

The hook and loop design would serve you well at the beginners stage or to let off some steam during a workout and training. A good design option when it comes to heavy bag work too. A boxer heading to a fight would probably avoid these and these might hamper his agility.

The brand

We can simple not emphasize the importance of this aspect enough. Protection, agility, purpose- your basic boxing gear, the gloves, must be bought with this in mind rather than things like price. Price is an important factor but consider the cost you would eventually have to bear for a poor quality brand as an injured hand, displaced knuckles or worse, a lost fight!

Choosing the right brand is as much an investment rather than a cost as is the selection of right size, weight, type and fit of the boxing gloves. Do not compromise value over price.

We would always recommend you to involve your coach in the decision or seek advice from an experienced boxer even if you want to decide on your own about the design, size and the brand to buy.

Remember something from your journey as a boxer you would want to share? Tell us how you learnt keeping ahead of your mates by choosing the right boxing partner, your gloves.