What are Boxing Gloves and why do you need them?

You're about to learn more about boxing gloves than you really need to know.

Boxing gloves protect you and your opponent during any matches or competition. The earliest form of boxing glove originated in Greece and consisted of something meant to inflict pain and suffering rather than reduce it. It was basically leather straps that may or may not have things such as studs embedded in them. In short, they made boxing fights good and bloody. 

Lucky for those of us practicing boxing today, boxing became more civilized. We now benefit from boxing gloves with higher quality and more ergonomic design thanks to science and technology advance.

When looking for boxing gloves - you would find a wide selection of various weights, types and styles. You may see them called training gloves, bag gloves, sparring gloves, boxing gloves, and so on. So what is the difference?

There are various types of of boxing gloves; however, there are 2 most common types: Training (Bag) Gloves and Amateur Competition Gloves.

Training Gloves

You’ll often find brands advertising boxing gloves as training gloves or bag gloves*. These are basically your typical all-round boxing glove. Sometimes they’re built for bag and pad work, however they’re usually pretty versatile and useful in any type of training.

For most of what you’ll be doing, you’ll probably be using a pair of these. Not all general purpose gloves are labelled as training gloves though, and are often just referred to as boxing gloves.

For an adult above 18 years old, generally 12 oz is the perfect size to get started with your training.

 

Training Boxing Gloves (by Aslan Sports)

Amateur Competition Gloves

You’ll probably never need to buy yourself a pair of these, but it’s worth knowing what they are. Amateur boxing competitions tend to use a specific style of gloves, which are usually provided to the fighters by the promotion. The gloves are typically coloured red or blue, depending on the fighters corner. It’s also not unusual for the knuckle area of the glove highlighted. These features make it much clearer for the judges to score the fight.

 

 

THEN... DOES BOXING GLOVES BRAND MATTER?

There are a lot of other manufacturers that also make good boxing gloves. In short, you sometimes end up paying for a brand name, and you may or may not want to do that. However, the most important factor to choose a pair of gloves is the material of the gloves. Hence, it is better to consider established brands in order to ensure the materials and customer service (glove choice advises, maintenance, etc.) such as Aslan Sports, TOP TEN, etc.

Boxing gloves you should avoid are the cheaper vinyl gloves. While the price is right, the quality isn't. The material will wear out very quickly and you'll end up buying another pair in the near future. Spend the money now for a quality pair of boxing gloves for your purpose and you shouldn't have to invest in another pair anytime soon.

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Check out our range of boxing gloves on www.aslansports.com/collections/boxing-gloves

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References:

Coach Aaron, from https://commandoboxing.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-boxing-gloves 

N/A, from https://fightquality.com/2020/12/11/types-of-boxing-gloves/