How Do Boxing Gloves Protect The Fighters?

The primary reason boxing gloves are used in the sport of boxing is to protect the boxer’s hand from injuries. Hand injuries are extremely common in combat sports, despite glove use.

Bare-knuckle boxing only allows fighters to wrap their thumb and wrist, but not their knuckles, which is why most of them end up breaking their hands in almost every fight. The reason why the hands get so injured during a match is due to the density of the skull compared to that of the hands. The bones of the hand are tiny and delicate, allowing us to use our fingers and hands for precise movements, such as catching, drawing, or writing.

In contrast, the skull’s only purpose is to protect and contain one of the most important and fragile organs in the human body—the brain. Because of this, the skull is the hardest bone in the body.

Striking another person’s head with our delicate hands results in injured hand bones. Therefore, it’s of the utmost importance for someone training in a combat sport like boxing to wear boxing gloves.

Preventing Finger Joint Displacement

One of the main functions of boxing gloves is to provide a cushion for your finger joints. Your finger joints are the most vulnerable to the shock of a punch, and the effect can actually cause some serious damage to your knuckles. Boxing gloves are important and act as a shield of protection.

Protecting Your Opponents

The impact of the force in a moving object is known as momentum—boxing is all about momentum. Without boxing gloves, the effect of the momentum is much higher and effective than with gloves. Without gloves, the momentum a punch can carry may result in heavy damage and a severe injury to your opponent. The larger area due to the boxing gloves reduces the impact of the shock, thus helping to protect an opponent from any serious injuries.

Reducing Blood Bath

Okay, so it’s a pretty common phenomenon that competitors bleed from the forehead to the nose during a boxing match, but some serious thunderbolt-boxing-punch can follow through into the type of bleeding that results in a blood bath. Blood loss due to a fight happens much more frequently if the boxer doesn’t use gloves. Bare-knuckle boxing reduces the area and drastically increases the force. This results in increased damage that consequently ends in a blood bath between the two fighters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Now that you understand why boxers wear gloves, let’s dive into some frequently asked questions:

What is the best boxing glove?

This is by far the most frequently asked question on the web, but it’s tricky to answer. You see, the “best” is very subjective because there are a lot of factors that make gloves good, but it really depends on your specific needs.

Rather than asking what the best boxing glove is, a better question would be, “what is the main purpose of the gloves?” Once you figure out the purpose, you can look at different glove options to fit your specific needs, for example, sparring, boxing, heavy bag work, or Muay Thai. If you need help figuring out what type of gloves you need, as your trainer!

Do gloves come in different sizes?

To be clear, boxing gloves do not come in different sizes as shoes do, but they do come in different weights—in ounces, to be specific. The weight is determined by the amount of padding that is found inside the glove. More padding = heavier glove = more protection for your hands.

The weight of a boxing glove ranges from 4-ounces to 20-ounces. Every brand uses its own custom glove mold, so they all tend to fit a little differently, but you’ll find that boxing gloves do get a slightly larger hand compartment with a heavier ounce glove. For example, if a 12-ounce glove usually fits you with one brand, but it’s too tight with another, then you should move up to a 14-ounce glove to give you more room for your hands.

So, which weight does one need, you ask? Here are the rules of thumb:

• If you’re going to be sparring, 14-ounce to 18-ounce gloves are recommended depending on your size and weight.
• If you’re going to be training on a punching bag, 12-ounce to 14-ounce gloves will work just fine.
• Amateur Fighters use 10-ounces or 12-ounces depending on their weight class.
• Professional fighters use 8-ounces or 10-ounces depending on their weight class.

How do I take care of my gloves?

Taking care of your boxing gloves is really quite simple. Here are the best tips to keep them clean and smelling fresh.

First of all, keep in mind that smell is something that is totally unavoidable and is entirely dependent on the type of bacteria that lives on your skin, which happens to be determined by your genetics—not the type of glove you buy! These steps will help to reduce the strength of the smell:

• Make sure to clean your gloves with an anti-bacterial wipe after every use.
• Dry your gloves on the inside and outside as much as possible with paper towels.
• Whatever you do, don’t leave them wet and sweaty in a gym bag for a prolonged period of time.
• Use hand wraps with your gloves to help absorb as much sweat as possible.
• Lastly, under absolutely no circumstances, do not wash your gloves in a washing machine or submerge them in water unless they are designed for that purpose.