Somebody posted this in response to the same question I asked over at another message board...good stuff.
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"Hello,
This post is meant to help coaches/athletes promote a safe, productive, and fun sparring environment for boxing, kickboxing.
Training gloves and bag gloves.
Traditionally you could tell a pair of training gloves from a pair of bag gloves because of the need to lace them up.
http://store.titleboxing.com/title-t...ng-gloves.html
In the past 10 or so years the laceless training glove has taken off. You see less old school gloves in gyms so it is harder to tell which glove is for bag/mitt work and which glove is for sparring.
Currently there are top vendors (ringside, title, grant, reyes, top ten, etc) which have a hook and loop feature(laceless).
Unlike bag gloves, hook and loop typically involves an elasitc wrap around your wrist then an elastic band that covers the entire wrist. View links below:
http://store.titleboxing.com/platinu...ng-gloves.html
http://www.ringside.com/DETAIL_Ultim....ASPX?ID=25147
Bag gloves come in all sizes and styles. The most commonly used (gyms) look similar to training gloves with one MAJOR difference. The wrist wrap design. They look the like link below.
http://www.ringside.com/detail.aspx?ID=25143
http://store.titleboxing.com/title-t...ag-gloves.html
Another popular style is primarily used for speed. (some like them to harden their hands)
http://www.combatsports.com/detail.aspx?ID=22235
http://www.ringside.com/DETAIL.ASPX?ID=25225
http://www.combatsports.com/detail.aspx?ID=22237
Major difference in training gloves and bag gloves.
The padding, price, weight,quality.
Training gloves (sparring gloves) come in weights (12oz female) 16 oz, 18 oz, 20 oz etc.
Their padding usually comes in at least 3 layers, they are made of leather which is more permeable than vinyl, and they typically cost more than bag/mitt gloves.
Bag gloves on the other hand have 1-2 layers of padding and are made of vinyl or leather. Currently there are some bag gloves offered in different weights which will confuse many beginner/intermediate practitioners.
I have trained: boxers, toughman fighters, mma fighters, kickboxers.
One thing that surely seperates the pros from the novices is the way they use their equipment.
Most pros have a pair (or more) of training gloves they ONLY use to spar and a pair of bag/mitt gloves they only use for bag/mitt work.
Note to boxers - Be careful with training gloves made in Thailand (muay thai). These gloves are not geared solely for boxing and have lower level production quality than most american boxing gloves. They are used secondary to kicking so the padding is usually 1 to 2 layers. Also heavyweights to superheavyweights will have a hard time fitting their wrapped hands in them."
