8oz vs 10oz Boxing Gloves. What is the Difference?

I have always been a big fan of boxing. The fact is, I fought boxing while growing up, and one thing that continued to intrigue me is the different sizes of boxing gloves out there and what role every size performs. I have also wondered the size of gloves the pro boxers wear during a major competition.

So after some digging, I discovered that many professional boxing events allow both the 8 oz and the 10 oz more often. So I did more digging on what makes the difference between these two sizes?

In this article, you will learn what best sizes to wear for your bag training; and what should fit into your sparring sessions, including who needs to wear what and why.

So if you are as curious as I was back then, this guide will shed some light where necessary.

Looking at the two gloves side by side, you hardly notice any significant size difference.

However, you can see a bit more padding with the 10 oz, and this is to make room to reduce the risk of injury to fighters.

Boxers in the light heavyweight and heavyweight use the 10 oz. gloves (and above) while the rest categories of weight class use the 8oz gloves.

The other weight classes apart from the light heavyweight and the heavyweight have a smaller stature and, therefore, more likely to have smaller hands.

More so, if you are a defensive boxer, the 10oz gloves are bigger and will help to block opponents punches better while for the 8oz gloves are ideal for fighters who specialize in knockouts as the gloves are made a bit lighter and can hit hard on opponents.

What Size/Weight Should You Choose?

The size and weight of your boxing gloves will depend on different variables such as height and weight and also the type of training you do. Below is a simple chart developed to help you shop for the right size of gloves.

For Men:

If you fall within the 51-65kg, you can try the 8oz or the 10oz for your bag training, while for sparring, you can’t go wrong with the 16oz size.

If your weight class falls within the 63-73kg, your best bag glove should be the 12oz and a 16oz for sparring. Also, if you are in the 74-90kg, you can use the same gloves with the 63-73kg weight class.

However, for 88kg weight class you are better off using the 18oz for sparring sessions.

Weight KG	Bag Work	Sparring
-50kg	8oz	12-16oz
51-65kg	8-10oz	16oz
63-76kg	12oz	16oz
74-90kg	12oz	16oz
88kg+	12oz	16-18oz

Boxing Gloves for Women:

If you fall less than 45kg, the 6oz gloves are better for your bag work. Although it’s a kid-gloves for hand fit and lightness, these gloves work best for your weight class, and for sparring the 12oz or 16oz is preferable.

In this same weight class 45-50kg, you can use the 8oz boxing gloves for the bag while 16oz is suitable for sparring. The 50-60kg class can use the 10oz for bag work while women of average 60kg can use 12oz for bag work and 16oz for sparring.

Weight KG	Bag Work	Sparring
-45kg	6oz	12-16oz
45-50kg	8oz	16oz
50-60kg	10oz	16oz
60-70kg	12oz	16oz
70kg +	12oz	16oz

Bag Gloves

The first type of gloves you will be made to use is these types of gloves. After the bag gloves, you will be moved to using a sparring or fighting gloves. You first need to train with a heavy bag before trying it on your partner because there are some techniques you need to master.

A bag glove is made with enough padding to punch the bag so you can avoid being injured in the wrist and the hand area.

The 10oz gloves are mainly used during sparring sessions and competitions. They are both used by the amateur boxers as well as the professionals.

However, some boxers and trainers won’t recommend this glove size for sparring sessions because they are smaller and do not have much padding, which can hurt your sparring partner. Still, some boxers prefer to train with this glove size to perfect their techniques.

The most common use of the 10oz is on bags and pad work. It’s especially ideal to use on your bag because of the padding, which is enough to protect your fist and, at the same time, a very comfortable lightweight ideal for your punching techniques.

Size

The lighter the gloves are, the better it is to use it appropriately. Your glove size should depend so much on your body size, so for men, you can use between the 12-14oz size to start and subsequently drop to 10oz or move up to 16oz whichever happens to be your comfort zone while the women with smaller body frame can use the 10-12oz to start and drop to 8oz later on or move up higher.

However, when it comes to pad work, you can’t really say this is the exact ideal size, but the size that you feel more comfortable should be your perfect size. So try some different glove sizes and find the ones that best fit your hands and go with that.

If you are starting in boxing, your ideal size should be the 10oz size, but if you are much bigger than the average person, you can do well with 12-ounce size, but other than that, the 10oz should be a great starting point.

Conclusion

In today’s competitive boxing tournaments, the glove size varies according to your weight categories. And as mentioned earlier, the 10oz is the standard boxing gloves from your pad work to your bag work, including sometimes sparring and for a competitive match.

The 8oz is not as common as it once was and is not ideal for sparring because of its padding. It has thinner padding compared to the 10oz, and so can cause injury to sparring partner easily.

The 8oz are typically used for fighting and competition only because its smaller and so will be ideal for contact tournaments and fights and also ideal for women and kids.

And if you are wondering which of these two gloves will work best for you, then you should know that it is mostly not the size of the gloves that matters but who is wearing the gloves.

A boxer with immense strength will hit you hard regardless of whether he wears an 8oz or an 18oz gloves