Boxing glove weights explained

Boxing gloves are measured by weight, in ounces, but what do those different sizes mean? 

Gloves that are used for fights and very different to ones used in training, and there’s very good reasons why they have to be different.

A glove used in a professional contest would not be suitable to use in sparring, in fact it could be very detrimental and damaging, which shows just how big a difference there is and how important it is to select the right weight of gloves.

Find out the difference in the weights of boxing gloves in our guide below.

Sparring / Training Gloves

Sparring and boxing training is designed to replicate fights, but with restrictions to ensure that the boxers are not knocked out or injured.

This is the reason why heavier, bigger gloves with more padding are used, as well as headgear to reduce the impact the offensive blows will have.

The weight of gloves used in sparring are usually from 12oz to 16oz. These sized gloves are also recommended for training and hitting the heavy bags with.

You could be forgiven in thinking that the bigger and heavier the gloves, the more damage they would do, but it’s actually the opposite of that. The heavier the glove, the less speed there will be in throwing punches, and the bigger the glove, the larger the surface area, which will have less effect on impact.

This is why bigger, heavier gloves are suitable for sparring, to soften the blows and reduce the damage on the boxers.

Contest Gloves

Professional contests will use either 8oz or 10oz gloves.

8oz gloves are often referred to as ‘little gloves’ by professional fighters and these are more commonly used than 10z. 

The lesser the padding and lighter the weight of gloves will produce faster, heavier, more precise punches.

These sized gloves do not offer as much protection, and fighters will even attest to being able to feel the knuckles through the gloves.

This is why a professional cutman has to be used to ensure that all the specific guidelines for wrapping hands are adhered to and applied correctly to prevent damage, such as broken knuckles, hands or wrists. There is an art to wrapping hands correctly to provide as much protection as possible, but broken bones are still very common when wearing these ‘little gloves’.

Top 10 Boxing Gloves Brands

There are hundreds of different brands of boxing gloves, but which are the best ones to buy. The list below comprises of 10 of the top boxing gloves in the world.

Top 10 Boxing Gloves