How have boxing gloves changed over time?

[bklynboy]

I'm curious as to how the boxing glove has changed over the years - from Jim Corbett to the present.

I've heard that heavyweights as late as Dempsey were using 5oz gloves; that middleweights were using 6oz gloves in the 40s and 50s. I googled some and didn't find much information.

[billeau2]

Not sure of the weights but originally the gloves were called "mufflers" and were a training tool. What a lot of people do not realize and what is responsible for countless silly arguments about how glove size would make a modern day fighter a punching goliath.....is that the gloves focus was not on protecting the fighter on the recieving end, but on the fighter's hands.

If you look at the older methods of punching they were all alighnment centered, i.e. a straight punch was delivered with the elbow in, the hand straight, locked in to the wrist, to the elbow to the shoulder with the hand moving very little to deliver the blow....sort of like a fencing lunge. The other punches came in at a twist and were designed to strike within a short untelegraphed jolting type strike. The only free wheeling punches were done to the body. The reason for this form was not to break the hands...there is all kinds of literature on fighters concocting witches brews designed to protect and harden the hands. Linseed oil, tupentine, grain alcohol, etc.

Most modern fighters would probably launch a terrific punch and wind up hitting the crown or forehead and shatter the hand if they tried to punch the way boxers punch now, with the smaller gloves. For example, when Jack Johnon really launched into an opponent (the name escapes me) he wound up with a fist full of teeth....One can imagine that did not feel too good for Johnson even though it as worse for the reciever!

[bklynboy]

Not sure of the weights but originally the gloves were called "mufflers" and were a training tool. What a lot of people do not realize and what is responsible for countless silly arguments about how glove size would make a modern day fighter a punching goliath.....is that the gloves focus was not on protecting the fighter on the recieving end, but on the fighter's hands.

If you look at the older methods of punching they were all alighnment centered, i.e. a straight punch was delivered with the elbow in, the hand straight, locked in to the wrist, to the elbow to the shoulder with the hand moving very little to deliver the blow....sort of like a fencing lunge. The other punches came in at a twist and were designed to strike within a short untelegraphed jolting type strike. The only free wheeling punches were done to the body. The reason for this form was not to break the hands...there is all kinds of literature on fighters concocting witches brews designed to protect and harden the hands. Linseed oil, tupentine, grain alcohol, etc.

Most modern fighters would probably launch a terrific punch and wind up hitting the crown or forehead and shatter the hand if they tried to punch the way boxers punch now, with the smaller gloves. For example, when Jack Johnon really launched into an opponent (the name escapes me) he wound up with a fist full of teeth....One can imagine that did not feel too good for Johnson even though it as worse for the reciever!

That's the same way punches are still taught in martial arts and for the same reason. Most head blows that I was taught were palm strikes. Mike Tyson broke his hand throwing a punch at Mitch Green (late 80s) and that was a big topic of discussion at the gym that even a professional fighter could hurt his hand throwing a head punch.

As noted the wraps and gloves have changed the sport considerably. It's one of the reasons I'm curious at how gloves have evolved over the years. It's one more factor that makes it very difficult to compare fighters over the generations.

The fist full of teeth was against Ketchell.

[billeau2]

That's the same way punches are still taught in martial arts and for the same reason. Most head blows that I was taught were palm strikes. Mike Tyson broke his hand throwing a punch at Mitch Green (late 80s) and that was a big topic of discussion at the gym that even a professional fighter could hurt his hand throwing a head punch.

As noted the wraps and gloves have changed the sport considerably. It's one of the reasons I'm curious at how gloves have evolved over the years. It's one more factor that makes it very difficult to compare fighters over the generations.

The fist full of teeth was against Ketchell.

Spot on. If you look at Hatsumi Sensei's art Bujinkan Budo Tai Jutsu (what he calls it now at least) the guys ichi munji is identical to the old boxing stance. Win Chun punches are another example, when done properly they are very similar to lead hand punches in the older boxing styles.

I could get more esoteric....For example classical striking methods in Japan, like Koto Ryu, Daken Jutsu, etc....the point is when you use the hand and it is designed to hit properly the punch develops a certain way according to some of the same evolutionary factors:

1) When we first hit hard we are most suited to hitting down on the body from a raised hand position...look at a chimp throwing a blow. Coincidentally our bodies developed so that our eyes are protected by the forehead ridge, our throats with the chin, our solar plexis and groin and knees etc all are protected from hitting downward.

2) So the first trained blows were hitting upwards. In this swing one can catch the the eyes, the throat, the plexis and the groin. The mechanics of this blow are like a bowling ball strike so that we generate power

3) the next problem was how to disguise the blow. Animals hit hard enough to hit through a rival, we had to make the blow untelegraphed, shorter more explosive, etc. This is probably the first signs of boxing and manuvering against another.

[Scott9945]

I'm curious as to how the boxing glove has changed over the years - from Jim Corbett to the present.

I've heard that heavyweights as late as Dempsey were using 5oz gloves; that middleweights were using 6oz gloves in the 40s and 50s. I googled some and didn't find much information.

I'd be real interested in seeing a chart or graph of the glove size standards from the past 100 years. It's pretty frightening to imagine the damage Sonny Liston's 15 inch fists could have done with 5 oz gloves.

[DosRounds]

off topic but I heard there were less KOs when they used to no gloves since most shots were thrown to the body since the fighters didn't want to break their hands

[BennyST]

When I first fought, about 150 years ago, we used to wrap dead animal skin around our fists, preferably with some sharp rocks and stuff embedded.

The bums wouldn't have the money to get animal skin, so they'd just wrap a whole racoon or something around their fist.