How Do I Know What Ounce Boxing Gloves to Buy?

Boxing gloves were first made mandatory in boxing in the latter half of the 19th century thanks to the Marquess of Queensbury Rules, which sought to protect boxers from sustaining serious injuries from both punching and receiving punches. Nowadays we wouldn’t consider ever boxing without them. Choosing the right boxing gloves is crucial for your safety, as using equipment that doesn’t fit will increase your risk of injury. 

Even if you have a set of boxing gloves, you need them to be the right weight to add extra protection where needed or allow you to throw punches with your full potential when fighting in a real match. 

Let’s look at how to choose the right ounce boxing gloves for your needs and why it’s important to get the right pair.

Understanding Boxing Glove Sizes

Boxing gloves aren’t like ordinary clothes that come in small, medium and large. Although you can find different sizes for particularly small or large hands, gloves will be sized according to their weight in ounces (oz). As a traditionally Western sport, boxing gloves and weight classes are still in the imperial measurement system, but for reference: 

• 1 oz is 28.35 g
• 1 lb is 453.59 g

You may think that the heavier the glove, the harder the punch, but this isn’t true because punching isn’t about swinging your glove and gaining momentum but transferring your power through your body from your rear foot to your leading hand to produce a powerful punch. The weight is actually about the amount of padding in the glove which is there to protect your hand. 

Punching something or someone with your bare fists will be much more painful than using boxing gloves, as there won’t be any protection for your knuckles or the small bones in your hand from the impact of the strike. That’s why boxing gloves are essential for every boxer, beginners and professionals, to keep them safe and reduce the risk of injury. 

So How Many Boxing Gloves Should You Have?

You don’t just need one pair of boxing gloves; two to three pairs are needed depending on what training you’re doing and whether you will participate in a real boxing match. For a real boxing match, you’ll want the lightest pair of boxing gloves so your opponent can feel the full force of your punch. Whereas while you’re sparring, you’ll need the heaviest pair of boxing gloves to protect your knuckles and your sparring partner from any actual harm.

Other boxing training such as hitting heavy punching bags, will be somewhere in the middle and are easier to choose according to your weight class. For people attending boxing fitness classes like Boxfit or Boxercise, or beginners in boxing, one pair of medium-thickness gloves is sufficient for your type of training. But bear in mind that you should still have a couple of pairs in the same size so you can switch them around to keep them in good condition for longer.

Boxing Glove Size Guide

When looking for your first set of boxing gloves or your pair for training, you should use the following size guide to know which ounce boxing gloves are suitable for you:

• 6 – 8 oz gloves for people under 45 kg
• 10 – 12 oz gloves for people between 46 and 68 kg
• 14 oz gloves for people between 69 and 80 kg 
• 16 – 18 oz gloves for people over 80 kg 

Professional boxers will use similar-sized boxing gloves, although, with their intense training, it’s likely they will have much stronger punches and require much heavier boxing gloves for sparring. Professional heavyweights will still use 10 oz boxing gloves for matches though, to increase their chances of winning by knockout.

MMA gloves are different from boxing gloves as the fingers are left uncovered to allow for certain grappling moves, and they’re much lighter at around 4 oz. 

How Should Boxing Gloves Fit You?

Although boxing gloves are mainly chosen according to their weight, you can also choose boxing gloves according to their size if you have small hands or large hands; you can also get gloves made particularly for women and children, who have smaller hands than men. The reason behind the different boxing glove sizes is that boxing gloves are designed to keep your hands and arms safe, so if they don’t fit properly, they’re not serving their purpose well enough. 

If your boxing gloves are too loose, your hands can move around within the glove, causing the cushion to be ineffective at absorbing the shock from the punch, leaving your hands in pain. If your boxing gloves are too tight, then they don’t allow your hands to flex properly, leaving you with a poor punch and pain in your hands. 

If you’ve previously tried a pair of boxing gloves and they haven’t been comfortable or provided you sufficient protection, you can measure the circumference of your hands to see if perhaps the gloves are the wrong size for you. Just take a material tape measure or a piece of string, and wrap it around the palm of your hand, above your thumb and below your knuckles. The length of string or number shown on the tape measure is the circumference of your hand, so you can have a better idea of what size boxing gloves will fit you.

The following measurements are helpful for knowing what size gloves are best for you:

• 5.5 – 6.5” (14 – 16.5 cm) for 6 – 8 oz gloves
• 6.5 – 7.5” (16.5 – 19 cm) for 10 – 12 oz gloves 
• 7.5 – 8.5” (19 – 21.5 cm) for 14 oz gloves
• 8.5 – 9.5″ (21.5 – 24.1 cm) for 16 – 18 oz gloves

Your boxing gloves are meant to protect you from pain and injury, so they should be snug, without being tight. When buying your boxing gloves, you should also make sure you have enough space under your gloves for hand wraps. 

Are Hand Wraps Essential?

Although boxing gloves are designed to protect your hands, they’re not as effective without hand wraps worn underneath. Hand wraps are essential for keeping the small bones, muscles and ligaments of your hands close together to prevent them from moving in unusual ways that can cause pain and injury.

Hand wraps are usually around 4 metres long and wrap around the wrist as well as the palm of the hand and between each knuckle so each part of your body that will feel the most impact from a punch is sufficiently protected from sprains and strains caused by twisting.

Where Can You Buy High-Quality Boxing Gloves?

You’ll need a few boxing gloves to prevent wear and tear from overuse and not allowing time for each pair to air out and prevent the bacteria from your sweat from spreading into the glove which causes them to smell and break more easily. But you also need high-quality boxing gloves to ensure they last for a long time and sufficiently protect your hands from injury.

Fortunately, Maxx Pro Boxing has a team of combat sport experts to design and manufacture their boxing equipment to the highest standards for people of all levels and abilities. Based in Rochdale, we have an extensive online shop with all the equipment any boxer needs to join a boxing class, create their own workout space at home, and even start their own boxing gym. We even have a special line of boxing equipment just for children, so you can get the little ones started learning safely.

Buy from Britain’s Best Boxing Equipment Supplier

What are you waiting for? Browse our selection of the best boxing gloves on sale in the UK today. Order today, and get them delivered to your door in under a week so you can start reaping the rewards of this great sport.