Nowadays, boxing is not a sport that you only see on the TV competed by professional athletes. Many people are taking up boxing as a daily training section to improve physical strength and ease their minds after a hard day of hard work.
When practicing boxing, you need to equip yourself with suitable boxing gloves to ensure safety and boost training efficiency. Now, we will guide you on how to choose the right size boxing gloves.
How To Choose The Right Size Boxing Gloves
#1 Measuring Hand Size
The role of boxing gloves to a boxer is like the importance of boosts to a soccer player. By that we mean, they are indispensable in any game. The more comfortable and proper the gloves are, the more excellently the boxer performs.
Manufacturers label their boxing gloves with the unit “Ounces” or “oz” for customers to conveniently opt for their best fit. Usually, the size of the gloves will range from 6oz for the kids to 20oz for adults and professional players. There are three significant factors that decide which size your gloves are: your weight, height, and dominant hand’s circumference.
Among the three sections, the dominant hand’s circumference is the most challenging to measure. You can effortlessly find out your weight with a scale and your height with a measuring tape, but it’s not that easy with your hand’s circumference.
Although figuring out the hand’s circumference is difficult, it doesn’t mean you can’t do this at home. Firstly, you have to prepare a fabric tape measure or a piece of string.
Next, completely open your dominant hand and wrap the fabric tape or the string around the hand, right under the knuckles. The way you read the measuring results will vary due to the tool you use.
If you wrap your hand with fabric tape, you should place the tape’s starting point in the center of your palm to get an obvious result. On the other hand, if you utilize a piece of string, you need to mark the contact point of the string’s head with the redundant part’s end. Then, use a ruler to measure the length of the string with the marked point.
As mentioned above, there are three factors that you can rely on to find the right size (and weight) boxing gloves. Yet, the hand’s circumference is the superior unit that nearly determines your actual size, while the two other elements can be seen as a guideline or a reference.
Measuring size with a fabric tape
You can imagine this difference is like buying a tailor-made suit and a mass-produced suit. Both items will fit you, but the tailor-made one will entirely match your body’s figure.
Here are the size tables for you:
| Hand Circumference (inches) | Glove Weight (oz) |
| 5.5 – 6.5 | 6 – 10 |
| 6.5 – 7.5 | 10 – 12 |
| 7.5 – 8 .5 | 12 – 14 |
| 8.5 – 9.5 | 14 – 16 |
| More than 9.5 | 16-20 |
| Body Weight (LBS) | Glove Weight (oz) |
| 0 – 100 | 6 – 8 |
| 100 – 150 | 8 – 12 |
| 150 – 175 | 12 – 16 |
| More than 175 | 16 – 20 |
#2 Sizes And Games
According to surveys on the Internet and from many boxing games and championships, manufacturers categorize boxing gloves size into separate sections that are equal to the level of boxers and the content of the competitions fighters taking part in. For example, there are three size-range for amateur players:
- People who take part in under-the-light welterweight matches(under 141 lbs) will find the 10oz gloves fit them best.
- In divisions welterweight competitions (under 152 lbs) or super heavyweight (more than 210 lbs), boxers may take the 12oz gloves.
- 16oz gloves are for fighters more than 41 years old and competing in Master Divisions.
For professional boxers, there are two size-range:
- Boxers involved in the welterweight ( under 147 lbs) should choose 8oz gloves.
- Boxers more than 154 lbs in divisions super welterweight often opt for 10oz gloves.
After you finish measuring your hand size, this “how to choose size boxing gloves” post will introduce you to another step to pick the perfect boxing gloves. It’s opting for suitable boxing gloves types.
#3 Sizes And Gloves Types
Honestly, it’s challenging for beginners to tell the boxing gloves apart because all of them seem to be the same. Yet, there are five different kinds of boxing gloves with distinct purposes and designs.
Three of the five types are for casual or professional training, and the two others are for competitive boxing games. Let’s see what you need.
- Heavy Bag Gloves: This type of boxing gloves is for people who want to practice on heavy bags. When you punch the heavy bag, you can eliminate the risk of breaking your wrist and hand’s bone by utilizing a pair of heavy bag gloves. Typically, people choose heavy bag gloves at 10oz to 12oz.
- Sparring Gloves: If you want to train with your boxing partner, choose a pair of 16oz sparring gloves no matter how much you weigh. The reason is that this type of gloves must be made with extra cushioning and padding to avoid both of you and your partner from getting injured.
Sparring boxing is bulkier than other types
- Competitive Fight Gloves: Since competitive fight gloves’ main purposes are to protect the user and do damage to the opponent, this gloves type doesn’t need much padding and cushioning. As you can see, a pair of fighting gloves seems to be lighter and more compact than the two types above.
Besides, a pair of gloves for an official boxing game should be a true-to-size one. As a result, you should measure your size following the “Measuring hand size” section of this “How to pick the right size boxing gloves” article, in case you want a pair of competitive gloves.
Bottom Lines
There are three different ways to come up with your size for a pair of boxing gloves. Yet, we suggest that you use the “Measuring hand size” method for the most precise result, especially if you plan to purchase one for the upcoming boxing competition. We hope that you now manage to know how to choose the right size boxing gloves.
Enjoy your boxing games with great joy and safety.
