I started off with 16oz because I was told it builds strength and adds power to your punches. However I see people training with 12oz/14oz and it seems like a better size to gain technique,speed,power. I also heard 16oz is meant for sparring can any of you shed some light on this? Another thing I was thinking of if I get into a fight/MMA match wouldn't it be more practical to train with smaller gloves?
I personally use 12oz gloves on pads, 14 or 16 for sparring. The weight is not so much the issue as the structure of the glove and it's intended purpose. My 12oz gloves are "bag" gloves (Grant), the padding is denser and more compact, so when i am hitting the pads i get better feedback from them....... As for sparring gloves, you want to get a glove that is made to "spar or train" with, the padding is not as dense and is made for protecting your sparring partner..... Truth is, the weight difference between a 12oz sparring glove and a 16oz sparring glove is only 4oz'z, which really is negligible...... the build of the glove is more important for the intended purpose. I have a pair of 14oz Twins hook n loop gloves that i use for MT sparring, and the padding is bulky around the top and front of the glove to absorb a shin, and the strap is thick and wide to protect the wrist...... because of the padding distribution they feel a whole lot bigger and slower than my boxing gloves that are Winning lace up 16oz's, which honestly even feel lighter than my 12oz bag gloves because the padding is so evenly distributed.......... So in summation, the difference in weight is only a matter of 2-4oz per glove, which is or should be barely noticeable. The build or structure of the glove and how it fits is really what makes a glove feel lighter, or faster...... Also, there is really not much difference in getting hit with a 12oz sparring glove than their is a 16oz sparring glove, given they are the same make/model. But their is a big difference in getting hit with a pad glove vs. bag glove, or a standard vs. mexican style glove........ I would much rather get hit with a 12oz twins glove than i would a 16oz lace up Reyes glove...... seriously!
That said, if your training for MMA, you should be doing a fair amount of your bag/pad and light sparring work with actual MMA gloves........
You spar and train with heavier gloves so when fight time comes and you wear the smaller gloves, they feel super light and your speed improves with that.
like i mentioned above, their aint much difference in 2-4oz's...... and truth is, your speed doesn't really improve, your perception of speed improves...... the speed difference in a punch with an extra 2-4oz of weight is not significant enough to even be measurable by anything other than super slow motion cameras, and even then it is only a fraction of fraction, etc..... of a second faster, if that. Really, if your wearing 16oz gloves to train, without hand wraps, a 12oz pair of gloves with wraps weighs about the same, maybe more when the wraps soak up the sweat......
