Gloves meant to protect the hands or the face?

[fractal]

We've always heard the gloves in fighting were introduced so boxers wouldn't break their hands, and I think for most part that's true. The cushion and padding helps your knuckles from breaking, especially when landing at bad angles.

I just watched this video about Luis Resto vs Billy Collins, where Resto's team tampered with the gloves reducing/removing the padding within them. Clearly this gave Resto an edge where his punches did more damage to Collins. When caught, Resto was banned for tampering by NYSAC.

However, wouldn't lessening the padding also reduce Luis' ability to punch harder? Obviously in this case, the reduced padding helped him more than harmed him. But then shouldn't they all have less padding? After all this is a combat sport. Why add barriers which help you protect from damage, especially in the form of padded gloves?

I'm not trying to stir shit here, I'm just curious. I don't know the science behind how much padding is appropriate, so maybe this was just a one of case.

 

[Badr Hari]

A bit of padding for hand protection and small gloves for protection against cuts is good. These pillows that they use nowadays have changed boxing from a fist fight to something else. I mean the element of art in boxing called defense is now almost forgotten or to say the least profaned. When you see old clips you see skilled boxers defending with head and upper body movement, shoulder roll and cross arm defense. You don't see that today except in some rare cases. Most of these 'modern' boxers use the massive gloves as a defensive tool. Most of todays boxers really are fighting from a kickboxing stance. They put their head forward and square up all the time. Those things have no place in old school boxing and even some of the champions of our era would look foolish if boxers from the 40s and 50s could wake up and see them. And it's not boxer's fault really. It's something that entered the game with the intent to make it better and fucked it up. Putting those monster gloves in front of your head when you are stuck to the ropes and the opponent is on assault is simple, effective and takes little skill. I laugh when I hear this 'boxing has evolved' thing. Yes evolved to become more simplistic and less elusive. Chisora was backed against the ropes for whole minutes and Takam throwing nice big combinations had the effect of gassing himself more than shattering Chisora. And I'm taking this only as an example off the top of my head as Chisora actually has solid defense at times when he is alert. Elite boxers like Joshua, Usyk, Bivol, Abraham, Callum etc etc defensively highly depend on the size of the gloves. I am not saying they're not talented as that is clearly not the case and they would probably adjust their style if small gloves were used. I'm just saying using bigger and bigger gloves has taken a bit from the defensive beauty that boxing wizards of the past have shown.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Gloves protect the hands so you can hit harder. At some point though the bigger the gloves get it starts protecting the head as well but gloves that large don't get used in boxing.

 

[KillerIsBack V2]

Gloves protect the hands so you can hit harder. At some point though the bigger the gloves get it starts protecting the head as well but gloves that large don't get used in boxing.

I disagree, any padding on the hand protects the apponenta relatively to a certain extend.
I think everyone will agree with me when if i say replace any boxing match u know with MMA gloves, it’ll end earlier.

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

What kind of a question is this?

Bare knuckle fighters always break their hands in a fight. Knuckles heal...

The answers are apparent with padded head gear vs professional boxing...

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

We've always heard the gloves in fighting were introduced so boxers wouldn't break their hands, and I think for most part that's true. The cushion and padding helps your knuckles from breaking, especially when landing at bad angles.

I just watched this video about Luis Resto vs Billy Collins, where Resto's team tampered with the gloves reducing/removing the padding within them. Clearly this gave Resto an edge where his punches did more damage to Collins. When caught, Resto was banned for tampering by NYSAC.

However, wouldn't lessening the padding also reduce Luis' ability to punch harder? Obviously in this case, the reduced padding helped him more than harmed him. But then shouldn't they all have less padding? After all this is a combat sport. Why add barriers which help you protect from damage, especially in the form of padded gloves?

I'm not trying to stir shit here, I'm just curious. I don't know the science behind how much padding is appropriate, so maybe this was just a one of case.

Dude. Research “loaded gloves” and general padding ffs

 

[doubleg]

We've always heard the gloves in fighting were introduced so boxers wouldn't break their hands, and I think for most part that's true. The cushion and padding helps your knuckles from breaking, especially when landing at bad angles.

I just watched this video about Luis Resto vs Billy Collins, where Resto's team tampered with the gloves reducing/removing the padding within them. Clearly this gave Resto an edge where his punches did more damage to Collins. When caught, Resto was banned for tampering by NYSAC.

However, wouldn't lessening the padding also reduce Luis' ability to punch harder? Obviously in this case, the reduced padding helped him more than harmed him. But then shouldn't they all have less padding? After all this is a combat sport. Why add barriers which help you protect from damage, especially in the form of padded gloves?

I'm not trying to stir shit here, I'm just curious. I don't know the science behind how much padding is appropriate, so maybe this was just a one of case.

Hands

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I disagree, any padding on the hand protects the apponenta relatively to a certain extend.
I think everyone will agree with me when if i say replace any boxing match u know with MMA gloves, it’ll end earlier.

Re-read what i said. You are reiterating what I said in a different way while claiming you disagree.

 

[fractal]

Dude. Research “loaded gloves” and general padding ffs

Aren't loaded gloves having something hard inside the glove? Like when that boxer had wet cement strips (?) which hardened during the fight?

 

[aries]

Boxing gloves protect the soft tissue of the face better than no gloves BUT the padding doesn't do anything to decrease the brain shaking effect, in fact they found that it likely increases it (that was why Amateur boxing did away with headgear, they found it increased brain damage). With the padding removed from the knuckles you are more likely to cut and bruise your opponent but the wraps are still in place to protect the hands.

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

Aren't loaded gloves having something hard inside the glove? Like when that boxer had wet cement strips (?) which hardened during the fight?

Humidity, moisture, sweat, classic Plaster of Paris helps hardened this mixture. Such evil practices are calibrated in the layers that dont affect the offender as much as the receiver. The early days were worst bro. Jack Dempsey ain’t no saint either.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Aren't loaded gloves having something hard inside the glove? Like when that boxer had wet cement strips (?) which hardened during the fight?

Yes, loaded gloves refers to having something illegal in the gloves. It may also refer to hands being wrapped with more tape than normal and in an unusual way like Trinidad.

 

[Boxiana]

These pillows that they use nowadays...

If you think 10oz gloves (or 8oz if you’re welterweight or below) are “pillows” I can only assume you’ve never boxed and been on the receiving end of one.

 

[Badr Hari]

If you think 10oz gloves (or 8oz if you’re welterweight or below) are “pillows” I can only assume you’ve never boxed and been on the receiving end of one.

Pillows in terms of size. I talked about the defensive aspect, not how much damage they do. You missed the point and quoted one word that I've used in another context.

 

[mozfonky]

both I guess, hitting someone cuts the face easy and can you imagine a punch square in the nose with a fist? Hands or heads aren't meant for the trauma, the first thing we learned with the early ufc's was that hands would break pretty much every time. I can only wonder how the oldtimers fought like that without hand problems. Maybe the bones can be conditioned some but just feel the bones in your hand and how small some of them are, you hit a ten pound head encased in a skull, those bones don't stand a chance. Ironically, if the gloves were dispensed fights would end quicker and probably a lot of the subdural damage we see would be spared. In fact, that was angelo dundee's halfhearted suggestion after the infamous Mancini/Kim fight, to take the gloves off and shorten fights to whatever little damage could be absorbed.

 

[Jonny Ninja]

If you think 10oz gloves (or 8oz if you’re welterweight or below) are “pillows” I can only assume you’ve never boxed and been on the receiving end of one.

I think he means the shape, not the feel of being hit by them. I’m guessing the padding was generally more dense back in the day, But I don’t know much about the gloves from back then? The gloves looked smaller

Even now different brands of glove distribute the padding in different ways. Reyes gloves are generally more compact around the knuckle, which is great for finding holes in the guard, but definately more challenging defensively.
Other brands have more padding around the knuckle but less around the back of the hand and wrist

 

[mozfonky]

gloves were made with horsehair when I was a kid, and they were that way for as long as I know of. the one thing that was different were the weights, they say the gloves used by johnson, dempey and louis were 4-6 ounces but in some of the footage, they look larger than that, 4 ounces is the weight of ufc gloves. as far as dempsey using plaster of paris, that theory was dispensed sometime in the 60's when some journalist tried an experiment with it, but lo and behold, that one guy used plaster Margarita.

 

[CatchnShoot]

What kind of a question is this?

Bare knuckle fighters always break their hands in a fight. Knuckles heal...

The answers are apparent with padded head gear vs professional boxing...

Why so hostile today frendo?

 

[Woldog]

What kind of a question is this?

Bare knuckle fighters always break their hands in a fight. Knuckles heal...

The answers are apparent with padded head gear vs professional boxing...

It's quite a good question actually. Why are you always so aggressive and combative to everyone? You should get laid bro, release some stress. Your blood pressure must be high as fuck.

 

[Shoemaker]

While the gloves do a good job of protecting the knuckles, one of the overlooked purposes of gloves and handwraps is to keep the bones in your hand properly aligned. A good amount of breaks come as the result of the fist hitting the target at the wrong angle/hitting on the fingers instead of knuckles/etc. Or hitting with the wrong knuckles, like the pinky and ring-finger. A good pair of gloves will keep your middle knuckle aligned with your wrist, reducing the chances of a fracture in your hand or wrist (something people should practice as well without gloves on).

Removing the padding around the knuckle doesn't completely compromise the utility of the gloves. They'll still be able to punch harder due to the protection that the gloves still provide, but with a harder striking surface.



Gloves are definitely not meant to protect the face. It's a tradeoff - they do reduce the chances of cuts caused by a knuckle - while increasing the chances of a cut or abrasion caused by the seams or the laces.