Best Boxing Gloves For Beginners 2022

There are a wide variety of gloves available to boxers today and that’s a real problem. Why? Well, because I don’t think there is a definitive answer to what glove a beginner should buy.

You could go all out and spend several hundred dollars a glove for a premium brand like Winning. This would offer the epitome of comfort, protection, and finesse while being completely pointless to a beginner. Or you could grab a cheap pair of generic, unbranded gloves online for $10, which would be great until the stitches fall out after a few weeks.

A good pair of beginner boxing gloves isn’t either of these. They should be comfortable, durable, and simple. Gloves as such will typically set you back around $50-100. I think this is a reasonable amount to spend on a glove for a beginner, its not ridiculously expensive but at this price range, you’re much more likely to get high-quality gloves.

If you want a quick answer upfront, our recommendation to nearly all beginners is the Venum Elite gloves. They are comfortable, the velcro strap makes them easy to use, and they’re reasonably priced. If you’ve never boxed before and want a pair of reliable, durable gloves, then go straight ahead with a pair of Venum Elites.

However, everyone has different priorities, so after thorough research, we’ve compiled a list of the best boxing gloves for beginners with a variety of different focuses:

Glove	Sizes	Pricing (via Amazon Feb 2022)
Best Overall – Venum Elite Boxing Gloves	8-16oz	$82.23 – $155.01
Best Feeling – Everlast Powerlock2 Hook & Loop Training Gloves	12-16oz	$53.47 – $87.99
Most Affordable – RDX Ego Gloves	8-18oz	$44.99
Best Value – Venum Challengers 3.0	10-16oz	$57.99 – $66.69
Best for Sparring – Fairtex Muay Thai Boxing Gloves	8-16oz	$94.99

What to look for in a “beginners” boxing glove

For me there have always been a few key components that determine whether a glove is ideal for beginners:

• Is it affordable? – Most beginners won’t feel compelled to spend several hundred dollars on equipment for a sport their not sure they even like yet
• Are the gloves comfortable? – If you’re going to be throwing hard punches, you need to be comfortable and ensure your hands are well protected
• Will they be hard-wearing? – Having a reliable glove that you can use consistently is imperative, no one wants to keep changing gloves every couple of months, especially those who are new to the sport
• Are the gloves easy to use? – As a beginner you don’t want a long complicated setup just for a training session, this essentially rules out things that laced gloves which require several minutes and a training partner to tie

Another thing to be aware of as a beginner is the different sizes of boxing gloves. Heavier people tend to have a more powerful punch and larger hands, therefore they require boxing gloves with more padding in order to protect their hands:

Glove Weight	Boxer’s Weight
8 OZ Boxing Gloves	Up to 50 kg / Up to 110 lbs
10 OZ Boxing Gloves	45 kg – 67 kg / 100 lbs – 150 lbs
12 OZ Boxing Gloves	45 kg – 67 kg / 100 lbs – 150 lbs
14 OZ Boxing Gloves	68 kg – 79 kg / 151 lbs – 175 lbs
16 OZ Boxing Gloves	Over 80 kg / Over 175 lbs

Venum Elites – Best Overall

The Elites are probably the most popular training glove Venum has made and for good reason. This glove is our immediate recommendation to nearly all beginners who want to get into boxing and the reason for that is very simple. In terms of functionality, I literally couldn’t find anything wrong with this glove. It’s comfortable, durable, feels good, and it’s affordable. There isn’t a singular element that shines out above the rest but as a package, Venum has done an incredibly commendable job with these gloves.

Like a lot of gloves on this list, the Elites are most well suited to mitt and bag work along with general training. They aren’t that well suited to sparring since they are quite dense and hard, however, if you think you’ll occasionally spar, then we’d recommend the 16oz version of these gloves for the vast majority of people.

The only complaint I have with these gloves is that some of the more premium sub-models can get quite expensive. I personally wouldn’t spend that much on a glove if I was just getting into boxing and at that price, I also think you could get a much better glove. However, the standard Elites start shy of $85 which is still expensive but much more reasonable for a beginner’s glove.

Everlast Powerlock2 Hook & Loop Training Gloves – Best Feeling

The Powelock Training Gloves by Everlast are some of the most comfortable training gloves I’ve ever worn. They have really, thick, tight padding that almost envelops your hands, giving you lots of confidence to punch hard.

I mainly use this glove for mitt work because they feel so light and natural, sometimes I forget I’m even wearing them! However, they certainly aren’t suitable for sparring. The Powerlocks are hard gloves and the padding is very densely packed making it sub-optimal for spars.

The only complaint I would have is the ventilation. In some previous Everlast gloves, the mesh around the palm would help with breathability inside the glove. The Powerlocks feature the same mesh and even a hole near the palm of the glove. However, I found that after a session, the inside of the glove would become quite hot and damp which I think is due to the material in the inner lining of the glove. It’s hardly unbearable and probably won’t be an issue for most beginners but it is something to take into consideration.

This is insignificant but another I’m not keen on is the design of the Powerlocks. Compared to some of Everlast’s other gloves, they just look slightly dull. They aren’t ugly by any means but as a pair of boxing gloves, they just look a bit boring and unimaginative.

RDX Ego Gloves – Most Affordable

The RDX Ego Gloves are another good potential option as an entry-level glove. They are comfortable enough and hard-wearing with strong padding construction and spacing inside the glove. However, I’ve personally never liked the feel of these gloves, they allow you to deliver great power shots but they always felt a little bulky to me. The weight of the gloves was fine but the shape and padding distribution always felt a little unnatural. They have a really wide design as well and the padding is thick on the front, back, and sides. Some people really love this setup, but personally, I found them quite cumbersome.

Like most of the gloves on this list, the RDX Egos are suited to training rather than sparring. Bag work really suits these gloves and because they provide ample wrist protection, you can maximize your power-shots with these gloves. If you are going to get these gloves, we’d recommend going for either the 14 or 16oz sizes. They suit the larger sizes better and the bigger gloves really allow you to work on power and explosiveness on the bag while keeping your hands well protected.

While this is quite arbitrary, another thing I like about these gloves is the looks. I think RDX does some of the best designs for boxing gloves and the black and gold colour scheme suits these gloves particularly well.

Venum Challenger 3.0 – Best Value

What I think is so great about the Challenger gloves is that they are well-rounded. They wouldn’t be my first choice for sparring, since they are quite hard and dense, but for everything else, they are exactly what a new boxer needs.

The Challengers are comfortable and fit snug around the hands and knuckles so they don’t move around inside the glove. The wrist support is another great feature of this glove, it’s easy to tell that it was designed with bag and mitt work in mind. Having strong wrist support means that you can throw harder punches with a lower chance of injuring yourself which is incredibly important during these types of exercises.

Their padding construction is also rather impressive, the stuffing is in all the right places. The knuckles are situated at the deepest, most-well protected part of the glove and the padding around the sides and thumbs is also quick thick. A boxer’s hands are their most prized possession, so ensuring they are adequately protected is essential.

Another thing Venum likes to mention about the Challengers is their Neoprene interior which helps air circulation inside the glove. The holes in the palm of the gloves also help with keeping your hands cool. As with any glove, if you train enough in them, they will get hot and sweaty, but their cooling efforts do make it slightly more comfortable after a long session.

You could also get away with light sparring or body sparring in these gloves but if you want to spar at full speed then investing in a separate pair of sparring gloves would be advisable. The Challengers are quite a hard pair of gloves and sparring with dense, heavy, training gloves is always unadvisable. The health of you and your sparring partners should always be a priority, so while the Challengers are awesome for all-around boxing training, they aren’t suitable for actual sparring.

Fairtex Muay Thai Boxing Gloves – Best Sparring Gloves

For most beginners, I’d usually advise steering well clear of sparring gloves when they first start boxing. Firstly, they are usually much more expensive and most beginners don’t immediately start sparring. Besides, there are many more facets of boxing where you would benefit from having training gloves rather than sparring gloves.

However, if you’ve been boxing for a while and want a pair of gloves specifically for sparring, then the Fairtex Muay Thai Boxing Gloves are an excellent choice. While they are designed for Muay Thai, they are incredible pure boxing gloves as well. These gloves are specifically designed for hard sparring and many professionals in various martial arts use Fairtex gloves in their training. But the reason why we recommend them is that they are just shy of hundred dollars. This seems like a lot compared to the other gloves on this list and frankly, it is. But you are getting a more premium, specialized product and with that, there are certain inherent costs.

I’d argue that they are in the conversation with brands like Grant, Winning, and Cleto Reyes, all of who typically charge several hundred dollars for their gloves. It would be a stretch to say that they are better than them but they are definitely comparable. If you’re going to be buying these gloves, or any sparring gloves for that matter, then we’d nearly always recommend that you get the 16oz sized gloves. Larger gloves have more padding and generally make sparring safer.

Another reason we like the Fairtex gloves as beginner’s sparring gloves is that they feature a velcro strap. Lots of high-end sparring gloves often feature laced which are complicated and arduous, especially when you’re doing quick sessions.