Why you should own a pair of 16oz Boxing Gloves!

In combat sports, whether boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, or kickboxing, there is a kind of unspoken law with regards to 16oz boxing gloves.
The majority of professional fight gyms and coaches would agree that a pair of 16oz boxing gloves are required for sparring.
While safety is one of the main reasons why choosing a 16oz pair of boxing gloves is beneficial, in this article, our expert team will give you some other reasons as to why you should consider purchasing a heavier pair of boxing gloves!

Sparring

First and foremost, in the world of sparring, 16oz is the most common weight associated with this activity in boxing, Muay Thai or MMA.
A 16oz boxing glove is typically larger than its lighter weighted counterparts and usually provides the boxer with more protection in all areas.
A larger boxing glove also means more coverage of the boxer's head or body when guarding, which is great for their protection.
While the protection is great for the boxer, it's also beneficial for the training partner as they are being struck with a larger glove with more surface area, less power, and more padding, equalling a lower risk of potential injury.
If you already spar or are planning to introduce sparring into your boxing/training regime, we highly recommend you utilise a pair of 16oz boxing gloves for the safety of the training partner and yourself!

Muscular endurance

A heavier boxing glove equals additional resistance on the upper and lower body.
If you're exerting force with heavy objects over a long period of time, you are training the ability of your muscles to endure continuous and repeated contractions.
If you've ever found that your arms are struggling to hold up after a few rounds of pad work,
You may want to incorporate a 16oz pair of boxing gloves to train your body to adapt to a heavier weight.
While this may seem counterproductive to start with, in time your muscles will adapt to this weight change and allow you to train more effectively for longer, with the same or lighter weighted boxing gloves.

Harder and more intensive workout

Heavier weight also equals more energy required!
Using a pair of 16oz boxing gloves will give you a much harder workout in comparison to a 12oz pair of boxing gloves for example.
If you're training to improve your cardiovascular systems, endurance, or overall fitness, a 16oz pair of boxing gloves should help you get to your fitness goal, faster!

Who shouldn't use 16oz boxing gloves?

While the above benefits are definitely enticing to some, smaller weighted fighters/students should be able to get away with 12oz/14oz.
A student or fighter that is lighter than approx. 55kgs should be able to get away with slightly lighter boxing gloves, depending on their power and experience.
If you were to give a 55kg and a 120kg student a pair of 16oz boxing gloves, you should believe that the heavier fighter will have a greater ability to control and endure the use of 16 ounces.
Whereas the lighter student may struggle much more to hold and punch with the additional weight.

In summary,
The benefits of choosing 16oz boxing gloves are many!
We hope this article has helped you tick all the boxes and understand whether you need a pair!
If you have any further questions regarding these boxing gloves, send us a message through our online chat below!