What features should good boxing gloves or kickboxing gloves have? We asked this question to a large number of experienced boxers, kickboxers, and Muay Thai fighters.
The answers they gave us largely agreed. We have listed the characteristics of high-quality gloves for you.
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Key features of good boxing gloves:
Fit of good boxing gloves
The best way to determine if the fit of a glove suits you is to try it on and test it if possible. When trying on, make sure you have enough room to move your fingers.
Thumb stability
When you make a fist, your thumb must be held stable in its natural position by the glove. If not, you risk breaking your thumb when you punch hard.
Closure: Velcro or laces?
For boxing, Muay Thai, and kickboxing gloves, you can choose between a Velcro or a lace-up closure.
A lace-up closure provides more wrist stability and allows the glove to better conform to the shape of your hand when tightened. The downside of laces is that someone else always has to tighten and loosen your gloves.
Gloves with lace-up closures are generally only used in competitions because you don’t take your gloves off during a match.
During training, it’s convenient if this is possible. That’s why the most commonly worn gloves during training have a Velcro closure.
With Velcro closures, make sure the glove can be tightly closed around your wrist. This is important for comfort and wrist stability.
The Velcro itself must have a surface area that is large and strong enough to securely close the glove.
Padding/striking surface padding
The padding on the striking surface must be thick and firm enough to ensure you don’t punch through it. Foam padding is especially suitable for this.
The padding should partially absorb your punch, reducing the chance of knuckle injuries. It also lowers the risk of injuries to your training partners by dulling the sharpness of your fists.
Punching someone with bare fists can seriously injure them, and the same goes for gloves with poor padding.
Padding handpalm
Not every boxing, Muay Thai, or kickboxing glove has padding on the inside of the glove. This is an extra filling/reinforcement in the glove on the palm side.
This padding gives you extra grip for making a fist. It is also ideal for training combinations with a training partner.
The padding inside your glove absorbs part of the punches and kicks from your training partner when you catch them with your gloves. This can also have advantages during sparring.
100% Leather, microfiber or synthetic leather
You can choose between synthetic leather or leather gloves. Leather gloves last longer. The chance of tearing (especially at the seams) is significantly smaller.
However, maintaining leather gloves is very important. Grease the gloves once a month with leather grease, otherwise the leather gloves will quickly develop cracks due to drying out. There is often also a lot of difference in the quality of the leather.
The leather mainly used is cowhide, this leather is extremely suitable for a high-quality glove. By the way, nowadays there are microfiber and boxing gloves made of synthetic leather that are at least as strong, if not stronger, than real natural leather.
Seams, double-stitched and inspection
For the durability of the gloves, it is important that the seams at critical points are double-stitched. That means at the spots where a lot of pressure is on the leather and fabric.
This ensures that the gloves do not break at the seams (this is generally the place where most gloves break first).
Lining
This is generally the case with all fabric gloves. Feel carefully to check if the lining has no irregularities or loose threads.
The lining should fit nicely with the glove, so it won't wear out quickly and won't cause irritation when worn.
Weight
Gloves are available in different weight classes (8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and even 18 and 20 ounces). The heavier the glove, the harder it is to keep your arms up.
Training with a heavier glove does not make you punch harder. You don't train that with gravity.
It can ensure that you can keep your arms up longer during the match, because generally you fight with lighter gloves during the match.
An increase in weight in gloves can also mean an increase in the size or volume of the gloves. Is the glove a bit bigger? Then you also have a larger striking surface.
A larger striking surface of the glove means a reduction in the impact of a punch (an exaggerated example of this is the difference between a punch with the tip of a knife or a punch with your fist).
This is often the reason why heavyweights are advised to use a heavier glove.
Normally, children train with 6, 8, or 10 oz, women with 10, 12, or 14 oz, and men with 14 or 16 oz.
Heavyweights generally use 16 or 18 oz gloves, and some exceptions even use 20 oz gloves. The best boxing gloves in terms of price-quality are the XPRT boxing gloves.
Tips for use and maintenance of boxing gloves
- Never leave your gloves in your bag or car after use. In your bag, the gloves remain moist, and in the car, you expose the gloves to extreme temperatures and temperature differences. Let the gloves dry as soon as possible at room temperature. Preferably use a deodorizer to help them dry better.
- After use, you should ideally fill your boxing gloves with a deodorizer (for example from Hayabusa, No-Stink, or Rival) and let them dry in a place with a constant room temperature.
- Grease leather gloves well but thinly once a month with leather grease (note: dried sweat causes the leather to dry out. The leather must always be kept supple to prevent cracking). Good leather grease contains no acids that damage the leather. Pay close attention to this!
- Make sure you have short nails when using the gloves. Long nails can damage the lining and eventually ruin it.
- Preferably do not use your gloves on the punching bag. This causes the gloves to wear out very quickly. There are also special bag gloves available.
If you choose gloves with the above quality features and use and maintain the gloves according to the above tips, the gloves will last about 6 months to a year with 2 to 3 training sessions per week.
Whether the gloves last a little longer or perhaps a little shorter depends on your punching power and the training intensity.
Good boxing gloves at Fight2Win:
Of course, Fight2Win.nl sells fantastic boxing gloves. View our entire range in the webshop.
