Learn about the different kinds of Boxing Gloves
In this blog post, we will answer the important question “What kind of boxing gloves do I need?”
Type – Bag Mitts
When you first start training, generally you start off hitting a boxing bag, the best choice for that type of training would typically be a bag mitt.
Now a Bag Mitt is made with an unpadded thumb and generally has two to three centimetres of padding over the knuckle.
Always buy one with a full wrap wrist. What I mean by that is when you put your hand in here the bag mitt wraps all the way around. A Bag Mitt is a great economical choice in regards to getting started in boxing training with a punching bag. This Mitt is definitely not designed for sparring! It’s used purely for a light boxing bag and focus pad workouts.
I would personally recommend a bag mitt only for bag work as I find I catch my thumb a lot of focus pads if the angles slightly off… OUCH!
So this is a great economical product to choose if you’re buying a boxing bag for the home and you want a pair of gloves to protect your knuckles. Simply throw on a pair of hand wraps underneath these and you’re laughing.
Type – Bag Gloves
The next product on our list is what we call a bag glove. Now I’m personally a big fan of this type of glove. it looks like a boxing glove and it certainly is. It’s got a full wrap wrist which is very supportive. The thumb is completely turned in and sewn in just like a boxing glove, the difference is it’s a lot lighter and smaller. It’s got the padding, it uses similar padding to a bag mitt but it is the shape of a boxing glove. Now I find I can go ballistic on pads with this glove, I can really lay the punches home and if the pad person is a little bit careless, it doesn’t seem to make any difference. I don’t catch my thumb and so you can box with confidence, which is really important. Nothing worse than getting the feedback of sharp pain down your thumb and your knuckles to know that it’s probably not the sport for you. So a bag glove like this is nice and cheap. It’s nothing like the cost of a boxing glove and I’ll go into why later. But I’d choose a bag glove for training on pads and bags any day of the week. These things are ideal as they’ve got cool punch technology and they vent/dry out quickly. Generally, this is the glove I wouldn’t spend any more money than then this if you’re training on bags and pads only. That’s a bag glove.
Type – Hook and Loop Strap Boxing Gloves
The next choice you will step up to is a general purpose hook and loop strap Boxing Glove.
Now we’ve just jumped up a million miles up into the sky in quality and price (probably about double). Now, this is a full leather boxing glove. It’s done by weight now, these other gloves are done by size, like a medium, a large or one-size-fits-all. So this is a Trophy Getters boxing glove and this boxing glove has a full sewn in thumb and when you choose this boxing glove is when you’re after a general purpose safety glove for bag work, pad work and sparring. So a general purpose glove has an injected mold inside, this has a three-ton injected molded inside. It has a full wrap wrist to protect/support your wrist. it comes in weights, this glove comes in from an 8 oz to an 18 oz. The thumb is turned in carefully here to totally protect your thumb joint along here. You’ve got four and a half centimetres of padding over your knuckle. You’ve got a fair bit of weight in here. I’d recommend 16oz for men, 12oz for ladies or 12oz if you’re just training for fitness is okay as well. But this glove has got the padding in it that are designed for bag work, pad work and sparring. So it’s safe to strike other people, within reason.
It’s generally a very popular glove for general-purpose training so if you’re just going to the gym to do everything you want with one glove, this is the glove you would use. Personally, I’d run a pair of bag gloves and a sparring general purpose glove to make both products last a lot longer. So you do your bag work and pad work with a bag glove and then you go to your sparring glove for all your one-on-one techniques or if your trainer calls you over and wants to do some pad work. I’d still keep these on so that way you rest your gloves up a little bit and they last about 10 times longer than if you reuse them soaking wet all the time. So if you’re just after one general purpose glove, it’s pretty hard to go past something like a Trophy Getters in whichever way you desire, I’ll go into which weight you’d choose later on but this is just how to generally choose a category to purchase. So that’s a boxing glove.
Type – Laced Up Gloves
Then after that, you go to your specialist gloves. So, first of all, we’ve got a ring fighting glove here. It is a lace up and it’s a fully injected mold. It’s full cowhide leather and the whole idea of this glove is for use in tournaments for prize fighting or for amateur fighting. They come in 8oz, 10oz and 12oz, but the problem with this for training is this lace up. When it’s done up, it’s very supportive but you do need your trainer or a friend to lace you into these effectively. So I wouldn’t recommend a lace-up glove just for general purpose training unless you’ve actually got a specific trainer who will lace you up each time and maybe even tape them up or tie them off for you. So leave these to the ring fighters in the ring on the night.
Type – Sparring Gloves
So you’ve upgraded from a Bag Mitt just for hitting bags, you’ve gone to a bag glove for hitting bags and pads, then you go to a general-purpose glove just for training in the gym for sparring, for bag work and pad work. now we go to our specialist gloves. Now, this type of glove, this one is actually called a special, you go into all sorts of unique features. This one is designed for heavy hitters and pro boxing. It’s got a V carpal support to stop your wrist rising back. It’s got no pillow padding in the palm. It’s quite a broad glove so it’s narrow down this way and wide this way so you can really protect yourself but then you can get your punches in a lot. The weight of the glove is evenly distributed so that you can you tend to sting with your punches and command respect in the ring when you’re sparring. So very specialist sparring glove, I wouldn’t recommend this for bag work or pad work. The padding’s made softer and nicer so you are hitting human beings rather than bags and pads. So they tend to break up too quickly if you just use them on pad work or a heavy bag too much. You can get away a little bit but keep this for specific sparring. So that one’s a pro boxing glove.
Type – Muay Thai Gloves
The next variation of boxing glove is designed specifically for Muay Thai training.
A Muay Thai glove typically has a broader body and head for protection against head kicks, knees & elbows.
The Black Diamond Boxing Gloves are the closest variation to a true Muay Thai Boxing Glove.
These amazing gloves come with two heavy-duty they’re cotton filled pillow bars underneath the leather and that’s just so when you’re protecting yourself from knees or shin kicks and you’re taking a lot on your wrist and you don’t want to get knocked up.
Buy Punch® Boxing Gloves Online
Just to recap. For any Boxing Bag training, use a bare minimum of a Bag Mitt.
For Bag and Pad work, Use a Bag Glove as the bare minimum.
If you’re going to the gym and you just want to buy one pair of gloves to do absolutely everything, buy a general-purpose three-ton injected mold glove, which by the way is a good safety glove for general purpose training and you should get a year or two out of that glove before it gives up the ghost.
If you’re doing a lot of sparring and getting serious about your sport, buy specific sparring gloves whether it’s boxing Muay Thai or general Mixed Martial Arts.
This Blog Post is spoken from the Managing Director of Punch Equipment, Bruce Townhill.
