I was wondering has anyone sparred in 14oz gloves for pure boxing? I'm 165 with small hands and wrist and I find 16oz gloves is just too big where I can't do certain moves if I was using like a 12oz glove. Is sparring with 14s a normal thing cause i've never recalled anyone in the gym use 14s to spar.
16 ounce sparring gloves are the status quo at every boxing gym I have ever stepped foot in. If I was sparring in 16 ounce gloves, I would have a problem with my partner wearing anything lighter. However, if both fighters are wearing 14 ounce gloves, I don't see what the problem would be.
If you are sparring someone of similar size, 14oz is fine. I usually wear 14oz. Typically you will see smaller guys wear the 14 sparring (sometimes 12 for the featherweight), while the heavier guys have to wear 16. At our gym, if you are pushing 200 you need to be wearing 16.
Dude that brunette in your avi is smoking hot lol. but yeah back to topic, i find that with 16s its easier for me to get clumsy and just limits my movement especially fighting from the outside. I just figured a 14 may help reduce some of that? i'm sure with a 14, there's still just as much protection for my hands as well as the sparring partners?
I hate the feel of 16's, they just feel absurdly large to me but I use them most often for sparring. I occasionally put on 10's or 12's in sparring to get a better feel for things but I have to go much lighter than usual. I've tried 14's but don't like them at all. Like the 16's they seem too large but like the 10's/12's you have to go lighter with them. I think going hard with 14's is kind of a dick move.
you can get some really compact 16oz gloves yknow, like top tens or kofgs. 16oz is standard everywhere I've been. You should ask your coach if 14s would be okay for you. I'm also lighter than you and with small wrists, long narrow hands, and find 16oz good enough.
I use 14s for muay thai and I'm 5'8 165. I don't try to kill anyone when I spar so I don't think the 2oz difference really matters.
The thing i find with 16 is not the weight cause really we're all athletes and 2 oz difference is nothing, but it's the physical size of the glove where to me it's just too bulky and takes away some of the natural striking movements you would have compared to like a 10 or 12 oz. 16oz are just too wide and big for my hand.
Unless everyone is wearing them, stick to 16s. You don't need to wear smaller gloves than everyone else so you can feel like a champ. I know there are all kinds of 'reasons' to use them instead, but at the end of the day, it's just sparring, and handidly "winning" is not the point.
TS, you could try to find smaller 16s. Some are more compact than others if it's just the size that bothers you. I have the KO Fightgear 16 oz, and they're pretty compact compared to some of the others at the gym. So the actual size is smaller. Plus, they're tough, cheap gloves.
Gorrila fight gear do bullet shaped sparring gloves with more padding on the front and less width. Not tried them yet as their $100, but I keep looking at them.....
I don't think glove weight has nearly as much to do with "getting hit hard" as glove composition does. Two pairs of the exact same gloves in 14 vs 16 is ultimately negligible, even when sparring hard. That extra 2oz isn't gonna do anyone a whole lot of favors. Glove composition is a different story, I have a pair of 14oz winnings I spar in pretty often (i'm 190pds) and a pair of 16oz grant's (pro model) that I also spar in regularly, both lace up gloves. Personally, I'd much rather get hit with the winnings than the grants (sparring partners would agree), as the grants are definitely a punchers glove with a thinner profile and less padding on the hitting surface. If ya got a few $ to spend, try the Grants (pro model) or the Everlast MX (mexican made glove). They both have a thinner profile and are built more like a punchers glove, will last you for a good long while too if you only use them for sparring. IMO, lace up gloves are always built a bit longer and thinner than their hook n loop counterparts. I have long thin hands and small wrists for a guy my size, I always find that lace up gloves (so long as I have someone to tie them up) fit me better and provide a more secure feel with less "slop" in the glove.
If I owned 16s I can't see value in buying a pair of 14s just because they are a little bit smaller. And as they guy above (who usually gives good advice) said the make is going to be a bigger factor than a 12% decrease in padding weight. Anyway 16oz is usually the standard most gyms would want you to use. I am 165 too and I don't consider myself one of the small guys in the gym. Get below 150 and then I think you can make a case for smaller glove for smaller dude.
I totally agree that glove type and composition is a much larger factor than glove weight. I've had old 16 oz gloves that were complete garbage and I would much rather get hit by my current pair of 10 oz bag gloves. However, I have kings 16 oz and 12 oz sparring gloves, both lace up and almost exactly the same glove. I'd say the 4 oz difference is far from negligible though as the extra 4 oz is almost all put into additional padding. The difference in volume that the 4 oz makes is pretty remarkable. It doesn't make much of a difference for me as I usually change up to the smaller gloves when I want to work on defense, not offense. I find the larger gloves make my defense awkward and sloppy and put on the 12's when I want to work on tightening it up.
