Choosing the Right Size Boxing Gloves

If you’re new to boxing or kickboxing, finding the right pair of gloves can seem pretty daunting. There are hundreds of types and brands. They also come in a large selection of sizes.

Choosing the right pair of gloves is one of the most important things you can do when you’re just getting started. In addition to affecting the quality of your training, wearing the wrong glove can increase your chance of injury over time.

Here we aim to give some general advice and guidance to help make that decision a little bit easier. Starting with the 2 main areas to consider:

1. Are you hitting the mitts/the bag, sparring or fighting?
   • Bag gloves have a harder padding and small while sparring gloves are big and have soft padding. Fight gloves only come in 8oz and 10oz and only in lace up. To find the best boxing gloves for beginners, you must first determine the right size for your needs. The most common sizes are 10oz, 12oz, 14oz and 16oz. 10oz gloves are the most popular size for bag/pad workouts while 14oz, 16oz, 18oz, and even 20oz gloves are used for sparring.
2. What’s your weight/size?
   • At 40-54kg and 5.5” – 6.5” you would be using an 8oz pair of gloves on the bag while if you are 85kg and 8.5″ – 9.5″ you would be sparring in a paid of 16oz+ gloves.

Your boxing gloves should have a snug, comfortable fit with your fingertips grazing the top of the gloves. Be sure to try them with hand wraps on. The gloves should be snug around the straps but not tight, and it should be easy to make a fist.

Bag Gloves: As the name suggests, bag gloves are meant to be used in heavy bag, speed bag or pad training. Bag gloves are designed with less padding in the knuckles than other boxing glove models. While it might seem counter-intuitive to have a product with less padding, bag gloves are constructed this way to allow fighters to feel their punches and become accustomed to the impact. If an awkward punch is thrown or a fighter’s form is broken, they should be able to feel it in a bag glove and adjust accordingly.

Regardless of type, the best boxing gloves for beginners should always be comfortable to wear with hand wraps and perfectly fit the shape of your hand, wrist and fingers. A good pair of gloves should never hurt your hands after a punch.

Note: all gloves have a break-in period. Chances are they won’t be comfortable right away, so give them a few weeks to fully adapt to your needs and fit.

Training gloves are a great all-around option for boxers who are new to the sport. These gloves are built with sufficient padding and can be used for both bag work and sparring but aren’t necessarily specialized for either. Training gloves can be a great introductory glove with ample support for novice and veteran fighters alike.

Sparring gloves: In contrast to training gloves, sparring gloves are built solely for sparring and have extra padding, not only to protect you, but also your sparring partner. Sparring gloves will be sized the same as trainers but can be a tad bit heavier due to the extra padding.

Competition boxing gloves are designed with the fight in mind. With less padding in the knuckles, these gloves are built for your opponent to feel your strikes. There are two levels of competitive boxing gloves: amateur and professional. Each follows sizing by weight division, with amateur gloves being more regulated due to the stricter rules at this level. A good way to typically identify amateur gloves is by the red or blue color scheme accompanied by a white knuckle overlay for easier scoring by judges.

Professional Boxing bouts use 8oz/10oz lace up gloves while Amateur Boxing bouts use 10oz/12oz velcro boxing gloves.

Lace-up or velcro?

Laces do offer a tighter fit and better wrist support, however they’re also sadly not as practicable. You can’t tie laces by yourself, so you’ll have to count on your training buddy to lace you up before each training. For this reason, lace-up gloves are almost always used by professional boxers.

Velcro can be secured almost as tightly as laces, and can be done yourself. 9 times out of 10 the hassle of laces isn’t worth the benefits, unless you’re a pro.

Leather or vinyl boxing gloves?

The most common materials used for boxing gloves are vinyl and leather. The glove material will likely impact your comfort, the durability of the glove, and the cost. Vinyl gloves are usually cheaper; ranging from about €20 – €60. For that reason, vinyl gloves make for good boxing gloves for beginners. However, if you plan to train very regularly, leather may be a better choice, both for comfort and durability.

Vinyl/PU is far less breathable, and may cause your hands to get excessively hot and sweaty. It’s also not nearly as long-lasting as leather. However, this is still a great option if you plan to use your gloves to partake in fitness classes, or any other activity where there is little actual hitting.

Leather, while more expensive provides quite a few more benefits than vinyl. In addition to durably, leather will mold to your hand and become better fitting over time.

If you are still not sure what to go for, feel free to contact us for more information. 🙂