Are you an aspiring boxer who is just starting with the sport? Before you start with your training, you will definitely need some boxing gloves. Depending on your training type, there are different types of gloves for you. Deciding what type and what size of boxing gloves should you get can be a complex process.
Along with the boxing glove type, you will also need to determine the right size for you for maximum comfort. Here, we will show you how to pick the best boxing glove size for your hand and what type is ideal for you!
How to Pick the Best Size For You?
The standard measurement unit for glove size is ounce (oz.). Boxing glove sizes range from 6oz. and 20oz. To determine the best glove size for you, you will need to measure your height, weight, and girth of your dominant hand.
It is very simple to measure your height and weight with a scale and measuring tape. For the hand girth, use a fabric tape measure to measure the area around your open dominant hand, just below the knuckles. If you don't have a fabric tape measure around you, you can make your own tape measure with a string and a marker!
Measuring your hand girth is essential to determine the best glove size for you. Height and weight are just used as guidelines.
Now that you have all the data, you can determine what size of boxing gloves should you get! But first, let's see what glove options are available for you!
Boxing Glove Types
There are four general types of boxing gloves, each with their advantages and disadvantages:
- Bag gloves
-
Training gloves
-
Sparring gloves
-
Competition gloves
Bag Gloves
Bag gloves have a design ideal for use in the heavy bag, speed bag or pad work. We do not recommend you to use bag gloves for sparring sessions. They are not as durable as specialized sparring gloves.
Bag gloves feature a wrap closure to ensure that the gloves are easy to put on and take off from your hand. There is less padding in the knuckle area, but most of them have dense foam for fist protection. You will need all the protection you need when hitting the hard bag. The main reason for this design choice is providing a more intimate feeling when it comes to punching the bag. You can feel your punch on the bag and analyze your strengths and weaknesses. That way, you can improve based on the glove feedback!
Here is the size chart for bag gloves:
Training Gloves
This type of gloves is great for beginner boxers, as they are a sort of jack of all trades option. You can use them for bag training and sparring. The gloves are not specialized in either of these training types.
Training gloves are firm enough to use on heavier bags. They also take in enough shock to wear during sparring sessions. The gloves are built with enough padding for both mentioned training types, offering support for beginner and veteran boxers alike.
We do not recommend that you use the same glove for bag training and sparring. That is so because the texture of heavier bags will roughen up the punching surface of the glove. Hitting the bag with training gloves will eventually break the gloves down, and reduce their effectiveness for sparring.
Once you have a decision on what training type will you use the gloves for, stick to that option.
Here is the size chart for training gloves:
Sparring Gloves
Sparring gloves have extra padding so that you and your sparring partner are protected. They are usually sized the same as training gloves but are heavier due to extra padding. Larger the size, larger the shock absorption of your punches.
Best sparring gloves have laces that resemble the design of competition gloves. Some of them are also designed with a cover for the wrap-around closure. That design choice is clever because it protects from getting cut from the hook and loop fastener system implemented in lace design.
Here is the size chart for sparring gloves:
Competition Gloves
Competition gloves are designed for real boxing fights and competitions. They are very similar to sparring gloves when it comes to size, but have less padding in the knuckle area. Your opponent will definitely feel your strikes with these gloves on.
You can choose from amateur and professional competition boxing gloves. Choose the type depending on your skill level. Each of these two types has a different size chart to help you decide what size of boxing gloves should you get.
Competition boxing gloves can be also divided on male, female and youth categories. While most of the boxing gloves look the same, women have a bit slimmer hands than men, so the boxing gloves are made with that in mind. Also, the youth boxers don't have their hands fully developed yet, so making gloves specific for youth is a must.
Here is the size chart of amateur competition gloves for men:
The size chart of professional competition gloves for men:
Here is the size chart of competition gloves for women:
The size chart of competition gloves for youth:
If you’re interested to find out more information about boxing gloves, drop us a message with your questions or simply talk with one of us via live chat.
We can help you with designing boxing gloves, free of charge, with our Designer Tool.
Looking for more interesting content?