Last Updated on April 27, 2021 by
There are clear differences between the type of gloves used for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Boxing. Boxers wear boxing gloves because they are the most preferred options for boxing. Boxing gloves are a better option for boxing than any other type of glove because of their improved quality, cushioned padding, and weight distribution across all of its areas. Mixed Martial Arts fighters wear MMA gloves because they are the most preferred for grappling during the fight. One thing you should know is that MMA gloves are not as durable as boxing gloves. MMA gloves are mostly designed and built to look cool and somewhat fancy. After carrying out numerous researches, we noticed that MMA gloves do not provide better hand protection and durability when compared to boxing gloves. In this article, we’re going to be taking a closer look at the differences and similarities between Boxing Gloves and MMA Gloves.
Boxing is a classic sport that focuses more on punches and the gloves used must be equipped with much thicker padding. However, MMA is a full-contact combat sport that entirely focuses in ground fighting, striking, and grappling, offering less hand protection. Whichever way, using the right gloves as a boxer or an MMA fighter can make all the difference when you’re out there in the cage or ring, throwing hard punches, grappling, or striking. Generally, we’ll say that the best gloves are the ones that can offer great hand protection. When you see the MMA gloves, you’ll notice that they are built in a different way with unique styles and designs of hand protection.
Boxing Gloves
Boxing gloves are well-padded and cushioned gloves that boxers wear on their hands during practice and professional boxing matches. During a fight with bare knuckles, a fighter’s hands and opponent’s head are exposed to serious injuries. But that’s not the case with modern day boxing gloves. Boxing gloves are non-lethal designed to offer protection to the fighter’s hand and the opponent’s head during a match.
Boxing gloves were invented by Jack Broughton, who many consider as the father of boxing. In 1773, he invented the modern-day boxing gloves to knock off the bare-knuckle fighting manner of boxing. However, not until gloves were mandated in 1867 by the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, some boxers still prefer to fight with bare knuckles. It was towards the end of the 1890s that modern-day gloves started getting widespread and widely acceptable. Back then, boxing gloves were made with six-ounce horsehair with a certain amount of gauze. It was really a bad composition as boxers tend to break the bones of their hand long before they even do damage to an opponent’s face or brain. This olden days gloves were quite a lethal weapon. A pair of boxing gloves is a really good investment since it can last one to three years depending on how much you train. Cheaper gloves aren’t preferable for a heavy hitter or advanced striker as they won’t last over a year. Even as a new boxer, taking a glimpse at boxing gloves and you can tell that they are thicker than Mixed Martial Arts gloves. Since boxing is a sport that exposes your knuckles and hands to a lot of repeated abuse, it is quite reasonable why boxing gloves are well padded. In boxing, you don’t need to grapple with your opponent so you won’t have to pay for the cause of padding your punches a little bit more. A standard boxing glove has 6 centimeters worth of padding compared to a standard MMA glove with just two centimeters worth of padding. Also, there’s a wide and bigger striking area on the knuckle of a standard boxing glove. Although much padding can quite add to the overall weight in one hand, which required a lot more energy to get it going. However, we loved two major things about boxing gloves – more pads and a bigger area on the knuckles.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Gloves
MMA gloves are fairly padded, small, and open-fingered gloves that MMA fighters wear for practice and professional games. These gloves are equipped with around four to six ounces of padding to deliver protection to a fighter leaving the open-fingers for grappling maneuvers like submissions and clinch fighting. Concerning when the first MMA gloves were seen or used, the Kempo gloves in the 1973 “Enter the Dragon” movie are similar to the first MMA gloves. These first gloves were originally designed to allow fighters to make vital moves while also getting protection. The modern day MMA gloves are now modified to feature more protective padding around the knuckles. The small padding provided does a really great job of staying put and rigid. The padding of MMA gloves moves with it instead of being circulated over a big area, thanks to the combination of a Velcro strap on the wrists and individual fingers. As an MMA fighter, your hands are well protected after each strike with the stiffer padding integrated into the gloves. Overall, MMA gloves are denser and more stable padding but have a small area of protection and less use of wraps.
Generally, if you put the two types of gloves together, you’d notice that there are great differences in their lengths. Boxing gloves are longer than MMA gloves.
Can MMA Gloves Be Used For Boxing?
No! It is inappropriate and illegal to use MMA gloves for boxing. To do boxing practice or participate in a professional tournament, you’ll need well-padded heavy bag gloves which are legally allowed for boxing practice and tournaments. These gloves are designed to protect your hands and wrists from the high impact of punches.
Is There A Major Difference Between Boxing Gloves and Kickboxing Gloves?
The major difference between kickboxing gloves and boxing gloves is that kickboxing entails the use of both hands and feet while boxing only allows the use of hands. Also, boxing focuses on blocks and punches while kickboxing involves kicks, blocks, and punches.
Closing Thoughts
Your personal preference and the sport you play in will determine the type of gloves you end up buying, whether boxing or MMA gloves. We’ve come to the end of this blog post. We hope that this article helped you find resources in your quest to know the difference between boxing gloves and MMA gloves. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments. Thanks!
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