Boxing gloves come in different weights and sizes. Usually, boxers separate them into two primary categories, light and heavy. The heavier the gloves, the more protection they provide. However, there’s a caveat that will make you think twice before purchasing a pair of your own.
Boxing gloves mostly come in 5 different sizes, 6oz, 8oz, 10oz, 12oz, and 16oz. Only a few companies sell gloves lighter than 6oz, usually for kids. However, you won’t see more than 16oz that often—the heavier the boxing gloves, the more protection and less mobility they’ll have.
It’ll be best to seek the best balance to ensure you enjoy your boxing gloves the most. If you can do that, you’ll enjoy your training more than with a heavier/lighter set of gloves.
Usually, 8,10, or 12oz gloves provide the best balance of mobility and protection. That’s why the standard for competitions is 10oz. Your stamina would run out much quicker if you were to pair yourself with heavier pairs.
This article will help you choose the most suitable boxing gloves for your need. Stay tuned if you want to ensure you use the most appropriate weight for your needs. Likewise, it’ll explain how the sizes even work, so you’ll know what to look for in the future.
Before we dive in, if you’re interested in this topic, you’ll also enjoy reading more about how long boxing gloves last.
How heavy are boxing gloves?
Typical gloves come in different sizes since each of us has different-sized hands. Boxing gloves are the same deal; they come in different sizes, so they’ll be suitable for a range of people. That’s why it’ll be best to familiarize yourself with this range, so you’ll know which one to choose.
On average, boxing gloves weigh 12oz. However, the range in which they come is anywhere from 4-20oz. 4-6oz are more often for kids unless it’s MMA fingerless gloves. 16-20oz are much heavier and provide high levels of protection and low levels of mobility. Choosing a balanced pair, 8-12oz is suitable for most boxers.
In the following section, we discuss the different sizes and what makes each unique. If you’re looking for a guide to help you choose the best for you, stay tuned for the following section.
Boxing gloves sizing guide – the complete guide
This section will examine the different sizes of boxing gloves. Likewise, it’ll explain the differences between the various sizes.
If you struggle to choose your gloves’ size, this is the section for you.
At the end of each section, I’ll also list the best boxing gloves in the category. If you want to purchase the highest quality pair of hand protection, I highly recommend choosing the ones I’ll list.
- 8oz – 10oz is ideal for competitive boxing
- 12oz is ideal for women while training
- 14oz – 16oz is ideal for people of the average size in training
- 18oz – 20oz is ideal for heavier people while training
So, which size boxing gloves should you choose? Let’s see that compared to your weight.
| Weight | Boxing gloves’ weight for competing | Boxing gloves’ weight for training |
|---|---|---|
| 105-122lbs (47-55kg) | 8oz | 12-14oz |
| 122-147lbs (55-66kg) | 8oz | 14-16oz |
| 147-200lbs (66-90kg) | 10oz | 14-16oz |
| 200lbs+ (90kg) | 10oz | 16-20oz |
The primary guideline is to find the best balance for your needs. If you think you need less protection and more speed, consider buying lighter ones. But, following this will help you better protect your hands while enjoying the mobility lighter gloves provide.
Bare-knuckle boxing
Before we dive into the actual sizes, I believe it’s critical you know the whole story. You don’t have to punch with hand protection if you don’t want to. However, it can be detrimental to your hands and joints’ short and long-term health.
Bare-knuckle boxing has no hand protection while boxing. While it’s the best method of conditioning your knuckles to withstand high numbers of impact, it’s also how many boxers find themselves injured. One misplaced strike and you will damage your hand, potentially resulting in a long-term injury.
For that reason, I highly recommend you don’t box bare-knuckled. However, if you eventually decide you do for some reason, it’ll be best to work on your punching technique first.
Developing bad punching habits without using any gloves—is almost impossible than with heavier ones, as it’ll be more painful without hand protection.
Hand wraps
Next up, we have hand wraps. If you’re unfamiliar with this equipment, boxers wear it under their gloves.
Hand wraps‘ purpose is to ensure the fist is tight in its place. That prevents joint injuries when you punch with improper technique.
This can either be punching with your fist not tucked in or striking with some flaw in your technique. Unfortunately, that’s how many boxers injure and find themselves outside the ring in the near future.
I recommend you always wear hand wraps when you box. Here are the best ones I encourage you to buy. Likewise, if you want to learn how to clean and wear hand wraps properly, follow the link to an article of mine on the topic.
6oz
Now, we’re getting into boxing with actual gloves. This is the best way to ensure you don’t develop bad habits while avoiding as many injuries as possible.
First up, we have the 6oz boxing gloves. You’ll find these smallest ones, other than 4oz MMA gloves. While they provide sufficient amounts of protection, they also aren’t the most suitable for long sessions of heavy bag punching.
Some people prefer using 6oz gloves because they can overcome various shoulder and biceps injuries. However, when you punch with heavier boxing gloves, as we’ll see later, you won’t be afraid to go all-in on the punching bag all the time.
This can be problematic for the impact on your shoulders, biceps, and even your elbows. However, there’s more risk of joint injuries when using 6oz gloves.
If you want to buy the best 6oz boxing gloves, I highly recommend purchasing these:
8oz
8oz boxing gloves are heavier than the 6oz ones, as you can imagine. As a result, the amount of impact they can reduce—increases.
Therefore, they provide more protection. As such, you’ll have a decreased chance of damaging your hands while wearing them than while wearing 6oz gloves.
However, they’re heavier and have 2 primary cons. Let’s see what they are and whether you should buy them.
It helps develop good habits because you’ll still feel pain when you hit incorrectly. 8oz boxing gloves don’t provide as much protection then while wearing heavier gloves. As such, they’re not as forgiving and will still ensure you feel pain when punching incorrectly.
So, who should buy them? In short, people looking for a better balance of mobility and protection. However, they do provide more mobility and maneuverability than protection. So, if you seek a better balance, 10-12oz is for you.
Here are the best 8oz boxing gloves you should buy:
10oz
10oz boxing gloves are the best set that provides both protection and mobility. You’ll most likely be fighting with them if you go pro or amateur.
Contrary to the lighter sets of boxing gloves, they better prepare you for competitive boxing since you’ll be wearing them while competing. Conversely, if you use lighter sets, such as bare hand wraps-8oz, you won’t be as ready to tackle the competitive world of boxing.
These are more suitable for people with already injured joints, such as knuckle and wrist injuries, as they provide more protection than the lighter sets.
If you want to ensure the long-term health of your hands, 10oz boxing gloves provide substantial amounts of protection and impact deduction. However, they’re not as protective as the heavier ones, as we’ll see in the following sections.
Likewise, they’re best used for professional and amateur boxers. It’ll be best if you train with them before a fight, so your shoulders and arms will get used to the heavier weight they carry.
Who should use them? Boxers who look for the most balanced boxing gloves. Hence a solid amount of protection paired with mobility.
Here are the best 10oz boxing gloves:
12oz
Thus far, we’ve only discussed lightweight gloves. However, in some cases, professional boxers prefer training with heavy pairs, such as 12,14 and even 16oz.
This is best used for long boxing sessions to condition your shoulders and arms.
The 12oz are great all-around gloves. They provide the best balance of protection and stamina. Although you’ll usually wear 10oz boxing gloves in your professional and amateur fights, they won’t develop as much muscle stamina, as they’re not that heavy.
So, the 12 and 16-oz gloves will better prepare you stamina-wise. However, the 12oz provides the best balance of stamina and protection.
So, who should buy 12oz boxing gloves? Boxers who seek the best balance of protection and stamina. While you usually won’t fight with them, wearing them in some of your punching bag training will give you more stamina in the punching muscles.
If you want to know which muscles punching uses, follow the link!
Here are the best 12oz boxing gloves you should buy:
16oz
We have the 16oz boxing gloves for our last, heaviest category. They are the most forgiving out of all the gloves on the list. That’s because they reduce the most impact.
However, this can cause various problems, such as developing bad punching habits and not learning as much. That’s because they provide the highest numbers of protection. As a result, you won’t feel when you punch incorrectly.
On the other hand, they are perfect for keeping your hands as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, joint injuries are widespread in boxing, a sport with one of the highest injury rates. As a result, it’ll be best to take as many steps as possible to protect yourself.
Concluding, 16oz gloves provide the most protection and are thus the most forgiving. However, they can help develop bad punching habits, as they provide the most protection. That’s why they also have a poor balance of protection and mobility.
So, who should buy 16oz gloves? Boxers with already injured hands should definitely consider purchasing them. Likewise, people with already solid punching techniques want to amp up their punching stamina.
Here are the best 16oz boxing gloves:
This following detail is critical to mention; do understand that you may find other sizes of boxing gloves. Because this market is highly saturated, there are even more sizes, such as the 14oz ones.
However, the concept stays the same; the heavier the boxing gloves are the more protection and less mobility they provide.
I highly recommend owning two pairs of boxing gloves; one to develop proper punching technique (6-8oz) and the second to develop stamina and ensure protection (10-16oz).
Which size boxing gloves should I choose?
Thus far, we’ve realized that there are a few boxing glove sizes. However, they all seem to serve the same purpose, which is true. And still, they’re pretty different. So, which size should you choose?
If you seek the most hand protection from your boxing gloves, consider choosing 10oz-16oz gloves. However, if you’re looking for more mobility and maneuverability, it’ll be best to go for lightweight gloves, primarily 6oz-8oz. Professional male boxers use 8-10oz gloves, as they provide the best balance of mobility and protection.
While I would usually recommend always going for the heaviest boxing gloves so you can ensure the long-term health of your hands, there is a caveat.
Although 16oz gloves reduce the most impact, they have one primary con; 16oz boxing gloves are way too forgiving. As a result, you’re more likely to develop an improper punching technique and bad habits if you decide to use them.
You won’t feel the physical pain in your joints when you punch incorrectly since these gloves are too forgiving.
The other way is accurate for 6 and 8-oz gloves. While they don’t provide plenty of protection, they’ll help you develop a proper punching technique, as you’ll feel when your plan isn’t on point.
It all depends on what you’re looking to get. I always recommend choosing a balance in your boxing gloves, which is 8-12oz.
Boxing gloves – weight divisions and size (oz)
In competitive boxing, both professional and amateur, you’ll need to choose a suitable size of boxing gloves for your weight. Of course, if you’re heavier, you’ll also need to have heavier gloves.
| Weight (lbs +kg) | Boxing glove size |
|---|---|
| 105-122lbs (47-55kg) | 8oz |
| 122-147lbs (55-66kg) | 8oz |
| 147-200lbs (66-90kg) | 10oz |
| 200lbs+ (90kg) | 10oz |
As you can see, professional and amateur boxers wear 8-10oz gloves, providing the best balance of stamina and protection.
If you’re interested in sparring as the pros do, it’ll be best to choose 8oz or 10oz boxing gloves, to ensure the most realistic experience.
How heavy are boxing gloves in professional boxing?
You’ll become a professional in boxing gloves‘ sizes and weight classes if you read the entire article. Now, it’s also important to know what size gloves professional boxers use.
Professional boxers use 8-10oz boxing gloves, which provide the best balance of protection, stamina, and mobility. If they were to use heavier ones, they would run out of stamina much sooner, as it’s a heavier glove. But, the injury rate would skyrocket if they used 6oz boxing gloves.
Finding a solid balance—is a difficult task.
Nevertheless, it seems as if the sweet spot is somewhere in the 10oz. Lighter or heavier than that, the balance would be poor, as you always sacrifice something for something (protection for mobility and stamina).
Are 12oz boxing gloves heavy?
12oz boxing gloves are considered in the heavier range, together with the 14 and 16oz ones. As a result, they lack mobility while providing more protection. These are most suitable for boxers looking for more hand protection, either to avoid future injuries or because you already have injured joints.
The benefits of boxing gloves
Boxing gloves are the most critical piece of equipment boxing has to offer. The number of benefits they provide—is too good to avoid. As a result, you’ll never see professional boxing happen without high-quality boxing gloves.
Here are some of the benefits of using boxing gloves:
- Provide joint protection
- Reduce impact
- Prevent cuts and bruises
- Condition your hands
- Increase the speed, muscle, and strength of your punches
- Teach you the correct punching technique
Overall, hand protection is the number one reason to wear and use boxing gloves all the time. Even when you train, you must ensure to keep your hands intact.
If you don’t, you won’t be able to throw a proper punch in the near future. Why regret your past behaviors if you can take steps to avoid them right now?
According to research, MMA gloves, lighter compared to boxing gloves, will allow you to generate more peak force. However, they won’t be able to withstand nearly as many strikes as the heavier boxing gloves do.
Concluding, the heavier the gloves, the more protection they provide. Boxing gloves provide plenty of benefits. The primary one is hand and joint protection.
Can I box without boxing gloves?
Boxing gloves, in my eyes, are the most critical piece of equipment you can wear. Although they come in different sizes and weight classes, they all have the same purpose, to protect your hands and joints from injuries.
Boxing without gloves—increases the likelihood of experiencing joint injuries, primarily in the wrist, fingers, and knuckles. As a result, qualified boxing gyms always ensure their trainees wear boxing gloves so they avoid such hand injuries. Unfortunately, one study found that the rate of hand injuries—is exceptionally high.
Carpometacarpal instability and boxer’s knuckle were more common than any other kind of hand and wrist injury in this cohort of elite amateur boxers. The rate of hand and wrist injuries was higher in competition than in training. Our study highlights the importance of hand and wrist injury prevention in the competition environment.
SOURCE
If you want to injure yourself the fastest way, I encourage you to pick up boxing. In all seriousness, the rate of injury in this sport—is amongst the highest worldwide.
As a result, it’ll be best if you consistently wear protective gear, especially hand. However, you can see that headgear isn’t mandatory, as professional boxers can’t wear it while fighting.
However, there isn’t a single fight other than bare-knuckled boxing, an entirely different sport that doesn’t have boxing gloves. Do you think you can avoid wearing them if the professionals that have been training for many years still wear them?
If you want to buy the best boxing headgear for your money, follow the link to an article of mine listing the best ones.
Final words
Boxing is one of the most popular martial arts in the world. If you want to become a solid fighter who knows how to throw and get hit, you can be sure boxing will make you one.
However, its rate of injury is amongst the highest in the world. Thus, protecting yourself should be your number one priority. That’s why wearing hand-protective gear is critical.
Boxing gloves come in many sizes. As such, some will get confused when deciding which one they’ll choose. I hope you know which ones you’ll choose after you have read this article.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about whether you should box without gloves. Follow the link to learn about the complete answer!