Thickness of boxing gloves

[TheBoxingXpert]

What is the history of boxing gloves? How thick did they use to be, how much thinner did they get, when did it happen, etc. I think that this is very relevant knowledge.

[New England]

gloves were as small as 4 oz, IIRC, and have been primarily horsehair for most of their history. they've used 6 oz and 8 oz in every weight class, and thumbless, for many generations.

today's gloves have leather attaching teh thum to the hand. they're 8 oz for 147 and under, and 10 oz for 147.1 and up. they are mostly layered foam.


the "thickness" of the glove really isn't what's important. it's the density and the material used as padding.

loose padding and loose / soft leather will let your knuckles get tyhrough to the garget. think reyes, everlast mexican pro style. soft leather also "pulls" at the skin, causing cuts.


hard leather will keep shape, and more dense foam will spread the impact out over the surface of your knuckles, instead of letting them get through to the target.

[TheBoxingXpert]

Is there any official timeline of the changes in gloves, like, at which specific point was which kind of glove used?

[juggernaut666]

What is the history of boxing gloves? How thick did they use to be, how much thinner did they get, when did it happen, etc. I think that this is very relevant knowledge.

They werent thick at all, i still have my uncles boxing gloves from the 1960's .Barely any padding and its less top heavy "lighter' than modern gloves and when you get punched in the face with them its you can practically feel the other guys knuckles ,this of course could be that the padding had withered over time!

[KingTito]

It's probably the equivalent to the thickness of that di.ck.

[SouthPawHitman]

If the commission's really care about the fighters health,they'll ban the use of any gloves and wraps. Boxing was at its safest when it bare knuckled.

[TheBoxingXpert]

Can it really be true that there is no overview of the historical thickness of boxing gloves? Which era fought with which gloves?

[juggernaut666]

Can it really be true that there is no overview of the historical thickness of boxing gloves? Which era fought with which gloves?

Championship matches they used 8 oz i believe pre 60's . Ali used 6oz gloves when he fought Mildenberger ,so it would vary . Looking at most fights its obvious the gloves were smaller regardless of the oz...they were just made different !

[New England]

Is there any official timeline of the changes in gloves, like, at which specific point was which kind of glove used?

been looking for that for a while myself. i don't think any regulations were unilateral early on. boxing was very much a local undertaking. there's still no unifying regulating body, but virtually everybody is using the unified rules of the ABC.

the history section would be the place to go. eventually you'd probably get somebody like henry hascup to give you either a link, or just give you the rough timeline on his own.

the boxing register for the hall of fame may very well have a history. i can't find mine for the life of me.



finding a few articles as i go. these have to be taken for what they are, which are popular press articles, as i don't have any verifying data from the record books.

Oliver Irish
Sunday 6 October 2002
Observer Sport Monthly

The modern boxing glove was invented in 1743, the brainchild of Englishman Jack Broughton. But Broughton's gloves, or mufflers as they were then known, were at the time only used for sparring; Broughton used to instruct men in self-defence, at an arena he erected on the Tottenham Court Road, and he used his mufflers to 'effectively secure pupils from the inconvenience of black eyes, broken noses and bloody jaws'.
It is thought that Broughton based the design for his mufflers on the ancient Greek 'cestus', a type of studded gauntlet sported by gladiators and used in hand-to-hand combat. The main difference, though, lay in the padding - either lamb's wool or horsehair - Broughton incorporated into his gloves to soften blows.

It was not until October 1818 that Broughton's style of gloves were used in a competitive fight, between two unnamed English boxers at Aix-la-Chapelle in France. A French newspaper reported: 'The two champions were built like Hercules...they entered the ring with their hands guarded with huge padded gloves.'

Gloves became mandatory when the Marquis of Queensbury Rules were drafted in 1865, and officially adopted in 1892. Mostly the gloves would be skintight rather than padded, and only weighing two ounces. Skintight gloves remained popular until the turn of the century - the last two-ounce bout took place on 22 May 1903, between Jimmy Briggs and Tony Daly.

The fighter who did the most to popularise gloves was American heavyweight John L Sullivan, who fought the first ever gloved heavyweight championship contest, against James J Corbett on 7 September 1892 (he also fought the last ever bareknuckle heavyweight bout, against Jake Kilrain in 1889). Sullivan and Corbett both wore five-ounce gloves for the contest, which Corbett won by knockout in the 21st round.

[DeadLikeMe]

The Everlast president was watching a fight in the 15th round, the horsehair-stuffed leather gloves were packed down from blood and sweat as he was watching the opponent get pummeled. Then, he had a sudden moment of clarity and he thought to himself, "there has to be a better way."