What Gloves Should I Use for Hitting the Heavy Bag?

Just like shoes, there are many different brands and styles of boxing gloves. Not as many different sizes but they do have different weights, ranging commonly from about 8 to 18 ounces. What brand, style and weight is right for you depends a lot, of course, on YOU! 

Also like shoes, I highly recommend trying on gloves first before you buy to make sure they even feel right in your hand. I have known some people who physically cannot box in certain gloves because it hurts when they punch for more than a round or two (but don't have this issue with different gloves). Whereas I know other people who use those exact same gloves and have never felt anything even resembling pain. What is the difference? Usually just the shape of their hands. A different hand shape can change the feel of gloves entirely so that is why trying them on first is usually preferable. Or if you order online, just make sure they have a simple return policy that you don't mind following if you don't like the feel. I just want to reiterate this point again because it is so important: you could have the highest-quality, most expensive, best glove in the world but if it isn't comfortable for your particular hand, then it is not the glove for you.

Ultimately, you want a glove that:

• Fits comfortably on your hand after a reasonable break-in process
• Doesn't hurt or even put a lot of pressure on your hands when you throw hard punches (provided you are wrapped and punching properly). Or cause delayed onset pain.
• No additional pain or pressure for each, specific punch (again, assuming you are punching properly). I have used gloves that feel fine for some punches, not for others.
• Will last and continue to protect your hands for at least 9 months of regular usage.
• That you like and looks good. Bonus points if it represents you in some way. Like for instance, colors you like/wear all the time. Of course looks should never come at the expensive of comfort, protection or durability but they do matter.

Here are some other general tips to help you find the best pair of gloves:

Weight

A general rule of thumb for glove weight is that the harder you hit, the heavier you want your gloves to be. With the exception of separately-weighted gloves (which I am not talking about here), the extra weight is usually extra padding. That extra padding protects your hands and if you train on the heavy bag for any significant length of time, you really should use at least 12-ounce gloves. Any lower than that and you are putting your hands at risk for no great reason. Yeah, you can train a little lighter but that can be hard to manage, especially when you are tired, and the heavy bag is really the best tool to train heavy. Might as well take advantage of that.

If you are a little bit bigger person and like to throw power shots on a bag, I would recommend going with 14-ounce gloves instead though. Provided they are of decent quality, still in decent shape and your hands are wrapped properly, you should not feel any pain even when throwing your hardest punch on the heavy bag. But there are also not so heavy that they should make a big difference with your hand speed or make mitt work feel clunky, as heavier gloves sometimes can.

Many different boxing gloves are not based on size at all, just weight. In those cases, the bigger gloves for larger hands are often 16-ounces. So if you're particularly tall/big, these will probably not only be the best fit for you but also provide the most protection, which you very well may need. For someone smaller who maybe doesn't hit super hard, I don't think I would recommend 16-ouncers, even if you found something that fit great, because the extra weight does not do a whole lot for you. For anybody of any size, that extra weight and size will slow your hands down a little bit but that's not necessarily a terrible thing, The 16-ounce gloves tend to last a little longer too as they are just made for more powerful punchers. If you feel your hands in 14-ounce gloves when you hit the bag and feel them more when you hit harder, you should go with 16-ouncers.

There are 18-ounce gloves and even heavier as well but honestly, I don't think many people would ever need them for bag work and certainly not mitt work. I have known some fighters who like to use the heavier gloves for practice so that when they use smaller gloves in a bout, their hands feel super fast. Or even those who train for fitness that want to get more of an arm workout from the heavier gloves. These are both real things, I just don't know how ultimately valuable they are. 

There are the specially weighted gloves that I mentioned earlier, where you can add usually up to 2 pounds of additional weight into the wrist. This is meant to be a training tool only and once again, I don't know if I find it worthwhile. Your hands will feel a lot lighter if you get used to boxing with that extra weight but just like punching with dumbbells, this isn't something I would recommend doing day-in, day-out. Instead maybe do a few rounds in the weighted gloves, then a few in the 14-ounce. The other thing to consider when trying weighted gloves is that the fit and feel of them will be different, as the weight is added to the wrist, and they may mess with your form a little. They also have a higher chance of causing injury.

NOTE: What about the notion of training with lighter gloves and still hitting hard to build up strength in your hands? Or people who punch the heavy bag with no gloves? I made a video about this a while ago - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uji0INq3g4g&list=PLN0PPf0o8X6X1Te2zEgHrqy-BtyI-RAg3&index=15 - but the gist is that this represents a much higher risk of injury (even permanent) and the reward is...I don't know. Your punches might hurt a little more in the MMA 4-ounce gloves but in boxing, I really don't believe it will make any significant difference.

Size

Some gloves come in different sizes, like small, medium, large, some are just one size fits most relative to the weight of the glove. For instance, if you had big hands, it is possible that 14-ounce or lower don't even fit you. One thing I have noticed is that sizes can vary quite a bit, even within the same brand. It's usually pretty easy to tell if gloves are too small or too big.

Some gloves will be tight at first, as they take some time to break in, but if you find your fingers are cramped at the end of the glove, they are definitely too small. If they come right to the edge, they may be just fine but if they feel small in other ways, it is smart to try the next size up just to see. Some gloves and some hands are very tight right around the area where the thumb meets the palm. They will likely loosen up over time but if it's super tight, this may impact your gloves' lifespan as there is often stitching in that area that will rip over time.

On the flip side, if there is significant room between your fingers and the end of the glove, so much so that you are unable to bend and make a solid fist, those gloves are definitely too big. If your hand slides around inside (with wraps on), those gloves are also too big. If you are able to put the put the wrist strap on (for velcro gloves), then shake your arms wildly and the gloves actually fly off, they are positively, absolutely too big.

Beyond hand size, some gloves are also just physically larger. Like two pairs may fit roughly the same but one is bigger, like your hands look bigger, in the gloves. This comes down to a personal preference kind of thing. Some people like the big, hulk hands, some people don't.

Couple Things About Style

As mentioned earlier, there are gloves of different sizes and shapes, beyond just hand size. Too many variables to mention here but I did want to briefly talk about 3 important things here, knuckle protection, wrist support and interior lining.

For knuckle protection, the majority of gloves use foam padding. There are many different types of foam. Some is denser and more durable than others. Some is also softer and more poofy than others. Certain brands, TITLE being the main one, also use a gel substance for hand protection. It is thinner than foam and made specifically for shock absorption. Then some gloves have both.

Next you have wrist support. The majority of the heavy bag gloves use a velcro strap so you can tighten the glove around your wrist. Some even have two straps so you can adjust the tightness a little more. There are also gloves that you lace up like a shoe. These are better to use if you are sparring as the velcro strap can annoy both you and your training partner when throwing live punches at each other. Lacing up will also give you the option to make the fit even tighter around your wrist. I personally don't find this super meaningful. Wrist support is nice but you cannot depend on your gloves or your wraps to keep your wrist straight from punching while punching a heavy bag. You depend on your gloves for knuckle/hand protection but not wrist protection. A little support, sure, but if you are experiencing wrist pain, it is not because of your gloves.

Then you have interior lining. Some gloves are very comfortable on the inside, with less perceptible lining and lots of padding. Some gloves, you can really feel the lining itself, and how it is detached from the interior of the glove except for it's seems. I myself do not like the ladder at all as I find it less comfortable and more likely that lining is going to rip at some point. As always, you want your hand to be comfortable and if it doesn't feel good the instant you put your hand in the glove, it is probably not going to feel good when punching the heavy bag for hours and hours.

Brands

There are many, many different glove brands but the main ones who sell boxing-specific heavy bag training gloves are TITLE Boxing, Everlast, Hayabusa, Rival, Cleto Reyes, Fighting, Adidas, Venum, Sanabul. I will do a quick run-through of my own personal experiences with each brand, including what I have heard from others in my career.

• TITLE - As I own a TITLE Boxing Club, I have certainly tried the most varieties here. My first pair of gloves were TITLE brand as well, long before the clubs like mine existed and it is generally known to be a good brand. There are some varieties I really don't like, some that I like a lot. I would say that in terms of hand protection and preservation, their World Bag Gel 2.0 gloves are the best I have ever used*. I've tried more expensive TITLE gloves, more expensive other brand gloves, but when I hit with the World Bag Gel gloves, as hard as I possibly can, I feel nothing. There are no bad angles to hit from and they last for years, even with consistent use. I have also sold many of these gloves to people serious about their training and to date, have heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone else. Only downside is that they are heavy - 16 ounces - and relatively big so people who like little, lighter gloves aren't going to be as enamored with them. You rarely see professional boxers using them in the ring but this could be a sponsorship issue more than anything else and even if it isn't, this does not change the fact that they are great heavy bag training gloves.

• 
  Everlast - Probably the most well-known boxing equipment brand and have been around for a long time. They are also one of the few brands that you can buy at Target, Walmart and other sporting goods stores. I have owned a couple of pairs but I must admit, they are the kind one would buy at a Target, Walmart or sporting goods stores. I have not tried the higher-end Everlast gloves but have known a few people who have them. They are okay. Not terrible but seemingly not great. What is kind of strange is that they seem to be the least durable of the major brands, despite being called "Everlast." I have had this experience with some of their other equipment as well - wraps and heavy bags mainly. Just not really made to last. I also think their lower-end gloves sell for more than they should, given these issues. A lower-end TITLE glove will hold up better for sure.

• 
  Hayabusa - A little more expensive usually but good quality gloves. They also look cool, which matters. I have a pair of T3s that I like a lot and have held up okay so far. One thing that they offer that I have not seen in other gloves is that the leather on the T3 style has a little bit more friction than most, which really comes in handy for throwing chin-level uppercuts on the heavy bag. Instead of sliding off, when coming at an upward angle, they kind of "stick" to the flat surface of the bag a little better. If someone struggled with those chin-level uppercuts on a bag, I would highly recommend. Can be useful with other punches too. I will say that they do not protect my hands as much as the aforementioned TITLE World Bag Gels do but I don't feel like I'm in danger of necessarily hurting them either. You will almost never see pros using them in the ring but I honestly don't know if Hayabusa even makes competition gloves anyway. Like I said earlier about trying on gloves before you buy them, I can tell you that while I like my Hayabusas a lot, my wife has the exact same pair and doesn't like them at all. They cause her pain. So hand shape may make a drastic difference here.

• 
  Cleto Reyes - Definitely more expensive and very high-quality. A big difference between Reyes and everyone else is that they use horse hair for padding instead of foam. Does horse hair protect your hands better than good foam? No it does not. And it's not intended to either. Because it works both ways. Your hands are less protected but it also hurts your opponent more. They are just harder gloves and this is one reason, they are highly-favored by hard punchers, particularly Mexican fighters (like we talked about the other week in regional styles). But this is why I would not recommend them for heavy bag work. They look cool, smell good, and aren't terrible on the bags but there are many better options for less money.

• Rival - Another brand you will see fighters
  
  using in the ring a lot and also just okay on the heavy bags. I have a pair of RB1 Ultra Bag Glove 2.0s and I like 'em enough to use them sometimes but I don't love them enough to have a problem switching to something else. They are also a little bit harder glove and have good wrist support. I knew a pretty heavy hitter who loved his Rival gloves. The fit and shape of them are slightly different than other gloves I have used so it might be another case where they are good for some, not for others depending on the very specific contours of your hand. They also seem to run a little small and don't have a lot of heavier options.

• 
  Fighting - Going back to what I said about my Rival gloves, I would actually say that my experience with Fighting brand gloves is somewhat the opposite. I often like to wear some gloves for a while and switch them out, just for the heck of it, but I really have a hard time not using my Fighting S2 Gel Power Training gloves. There is no one particular thing I can point to and say is special about them, I just love the fit, barely feel my hands, no real bad angles, and their size is ideal for me. Mine are 14 ounces and very versatile. I like the look too.

• 
  Venum - Like Everlast, I have seen these for sale in the local Walmart, Target and sporting goods stores. They have some higher-end styles but nothing too expensive that I have seen. Seem like a decent value for the money, I don't know if they hold up for too long and at least with the lower-end styles, the padding is not super protective.

• Sanabul - Disclaimer: My personal experience is only with the lower-end Sanabul gloves and it is not great. You can get a decent price but the quality and durability are not there. I do know people, online, who say great things about Sanabuls and I know they have some pro gloves that are supposed to be pretty decent but for training on the bag, I would once again prefer most lower-end TITLE gloves. I also don't particularly like the look and even the shape of the glove is kind of a turn-off for some reason.

• 
  Adidas - They make a boxing shoe I really like and was excited to try their gloves out. The problem that is that I personally don't like the look of most Addidas gloves. Found a higher-end pair I kind of liked - Speed Tilt 350 series - at 14 ounces. Unfortunately I don't really like them so far. I can definitely feel my hands when I hit the bag, particularly on body shots. It could be one of those shape things for sure but the padding doesn't feel super strong in general to me. I would also say that Adidas and Hayabusa gloves are the hottest to me. Meaning, my hand feels hotter inside. Not a big thing but noticeable. Could just have something to do with the density and breathability of their leather. There are holes for air flow, they just don't seem to help too much.

Again, there are other brands you will see out there but for heavy bag boxing specifically, those are by far the most common. I've always wanted to try Grant gloves because you see a ton of pro fighters using them in the ring (a trend started by Floyd Mayweather) but they are very expensive and also very hard to buy. The ones you'll see pros use are generally handmade just for them. And maybe not so good on the heavy bag. There is another brand called Winning, made in Japan, which don't look particularly fancy in my opinion but are supposed to be amazing, as they retail for around $500. There is no way they can be THAT good but one of these days, I will have to test it out.

In my opinion, the best bag gloves are going to come from TITLE, Fighting and Hayabusa. For the price, those aforementioned TITLE World Bag Gel 2.0 16-ounce gloves are the best and protect your hands better than anything else. They are a little heavy and you yourself may not quite need that much glove. If so, I would recommend the Fighting S2 Gel Power Training 14-ounce option.

No matter what you go with, it is important that you like your gloves. They should make you want to box and you should look good in them. There are some people who don't care but most of us are actually going to perform a little better if we feel like we look good. This is true of all equipment really. It is often worth splurging on workout clothes, shoes, etc. because it really can help. Plus you deserve it! Staying committed to an exercise regimen like boxing is not easy and as I talked about last week, you should reward yourself for it.

Celebration!

Kool and the Gang once told us to celebrate good times and as usual, they were right on the money. It is a great thing that we humans do. We celebrate holidays, anniversaries, milestones, and successes. Or at least we should. It makes life more interesting and rewarding.

This can work for exercise as well. No matter how much you love your exercise program and how much fun you have doing it, it should still be hard work. Harder than sitting on the couch, that is for sure. As I have said many times, consistent motivation is going to be tough for 99.9% of us and there will have to be some times you go into the gym when you really would much rather be home sitting on that couch.

This is one reason why we need goals. Could be a very specific fitness-related goal ("I want to lose 10 pounds by X day"), a little less specific ("I want to fit comfortably into a certain pair of jeans") or even just purely routine-related ("I want to do 3 boxing classes every week this month," or "I want to be in bed by 10pm every night this week").

When you hit those goals, it is wise to celebrate on some level. Doesn't have to be anything big, just something. Something to reward yourself for accomplishing something. A present even. Maybe it's a nice dinner out, maybe something you've wanted for a while, maybe something related to your workout like a new pair of gloves, or maybe it is even something you were going to buy anyway, like new shoes, but you just time the purchase to coincide with your goal. And it doesn't even have to something you buy. Any kind of reward or at the very least, celebratory acknowledgment of you following through. You could even just listen to that very same song, "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang every time you reach a milestone and whether you actually like that jam or not, it will become a positive thing. I used to have a playlist I put on in the car every Friday after I left work (getting through the week was my goal at the time) and it was fun and actually made me happy during the day, thinking about how I was going to do it.

Of course, improved health on it's own is certainly a great reward. Probably even the best reward, but it is a long journey so it makes sense to break it up on the way with little celebrations. Besides just the niceness of giving yourself a present that you deserve, there is a Pavlovian effect at work too. Your brain associates celebration/reward/happiness with doing something you may not be intrinsically motivated to do and over time, this can turn into more intrinsic motivation. It's like how I don't ever mind the work of putting up holiday decorations because holidays represent something special and fun to me.

But what if you aren't able to hit your goals? That is okay. Don't negatively reward yourself by feeling bad. Figure out what prevented you from getting there and how to deal with it next time. Maybe even try increasing the value of your reward to both potentially motivate yourself more and more appropriately celebrate what has become a particularly challenging goal.

Another thing I would advocate is telling people about your goals and when you achieve them. Most of us don't want to brag so you don't need to make a big deal but usually if you simply tell someone something that you attempted and did, they will be likely be happy for you and that in an of itself feels good. Plus, there is some accountability created there. You don't want it to necessarily turn into a lot of pressure, but it does help you stay on track. Once you tell other people what you hope to achieve, you have made it a lot more real and thus, more likely to be followed.

How Do You Make Boxing Feel Natural?

I have said it many times in this blog and in real life, boxing is not natural movement. Hitting someone or something might be a natural urge but this is not the disciplined, technical way that we throw punches in boxing. If you've ever seen two people duke it out in a street fight, you'll see what I mean. It's generally a sea of wild, flailing limbs. Then there are concepts like footwork and head movement that are completely alien to those with no boxing experience and even those who are still new to boxing.

So how do you make something so unnatural start to feel natural? The immediate answer is probably obvious - you practice. But how do you practice? What do you practice specifically? And when do you practice? How much time do you need per practice session?

The last question depends a lot on what your particular goal is. If you are training for a fight, of course the answer is going to be different. But for the sake of this post, let's say you are just boxing for fitness/fun/stress relief but want to learn the skills and get better. Having just 2-3 dedicated hours (2-3 one-hour sessions, most likely) per week with a live, human coach will make a huge difference. More is certainly better, but make sure you give yourself adequate time to recover, sleep, eat, etc. I highly recommend one rest day to anyone that does any form of vigorous exercise. Some folks need more. Symptoms of over-training include feeling overly-tired consistently, heart racing very early into the session, problems with sleeping and problems with relaxing in general. Over-training, for any exercise program, is not a good thing.

Beyond the 2-3 hours of consistent training with a coach, I super highly recommend some practicing on your own. This does not mean you need a whole hour or half-hour or even 5 minutes. You don't need any equipment either. Setting aside more time to do this is certainly great, working on a heavy bag is too, but you would be amazed what even taking a few seconds to shadowbox some quick combos or practicing your footwork can do. As I mentioned earlier, boxing movement is very unnatural. Every time you get up, get a glass of water, open your front door, get in your car, etc., those movements feel very natural and normal because you do them all the time. You never even think about them any more. But you probably never took an hour to practice any of those things. You just do them every day for a few seconds. 

So what if you did that with boxing? What if you just took a few seconds to throw a combo? Or moved around the room in your fighting stance? I can guarantee you that it will help you with your boxing. Just like all of those activities of daily life, boxing will start to become natural and normal. You won't have to think about them as much when you are practicing more officially. Your body will just flow and become efficient. This will improve your fitness as well, like all good boxing technique will. It won't necessarily turn you into the heavyweight champ overnight but it will make a difference.

We recently posted a video about just some very basic combos and defensive movements you can do in just a few seconds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TNY4izhN8Y

Here is another very important, very useful thing: you do not need to use your arms to practice throwing punches. Especially in the early learning stages. I have also said many times that the most difficult thing for brand new folks to learn is how to use their body to throw a punch. Once again, it is not particularly natural. But if you take again the arms, it almost forces you to figure out how the feet, legs and hips all come into play. We posted a video about this too, albeit unrelatedly Star Wars-themed:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb8_P-tkQPA

Then there is footwork too. Just finding a comfortable boxing stance is difficult for many. Moving in that stance is even tougher. Since we were all about 11 months old, we have been walking and standing a certain way. We cross our feet when we walk and bring our feet together when we stand. You have millions of reps doing that. But we do neither of those things in boxing. Simply taking a minute or so every day to get in your boxing stance and moving around will have the same effect as throwing punches. It will just get your body used to the motion and balance so it doesn't feel so strange when you are working on the heavy bag, mitts or in the ring. Move around your living room in your stance. Even just a few seconds makes a difference here too.

There are all kinds of great punching and footwork drills you can do at home. Beginner, intermediate, and advanced and they will all help you get better and make the sweet science more natural. The point I am trying to make is that you don't even need anything this structured or any time to start making boxing feel ordinary. Just making basic, simple movements part of your repertoire will build that muscle memory.

Then there's a mental aspect as well. You aren't just training your body, you are training your mind. Moving in your fighting stance, throwing a combo or two here and there, will keep your brain engaged in the sport. This will make it much easier to transition from a passive state to a boxing state and remember punches and techniques better, even the ones you don't practice. Watching boxing on TV or videos on YouTube will help too, though it is a little more of a time investment. I've also heard from several people that it was really cool to watch a fight, knowing a little bit more about what the boxers were actually doing, and that stuff carries over into your own training too.

So whether you really want to improve your skills, box for fitness, or are just trying out something new, you would be amazed what you can get out of just a little mental and physical training at home. And I really mean a little! But also remember that if you are just starting off or even trying to take the next step in your skill development, it is going to feel awkward at first. It's supposed to. Your first steps as a baby weren't particularly graceful either. Now walking is something you (hopefully) don't ever have to think about. Boxing can be that way too!

Styles of Boxing Around the World

Boxing is truly a worldwide sport. Certain countries tend to produce more fighters than others for sure,
but anyone just about anywhere can walk into a boxing gym and learn the sweet science. Over time, specific countries and regions have developed their own take on the sport. Almost like we have different cuisines across the world, we have some different regional styles as well. This does not necessarily mean that if you are, for instance, a Mexican fighter, you have to fight in what is commonly known as the "Mexican style." None of us are bound to any categories, other than our weight classes, I guess. Even taller, lankier fighters don't have to be outboxers. They can be swarmers or sluggers, even though it might be easier for them to fight at a distance using their length.

Nonetheless, regional styles have emerged and in the case of Soviet and Cuban methods, their fighters were not able to compete professionally for many years, which allowed those styles to really develop their own paths, without a ton of foreign influence. Here are the most common ones you hear discussed and taught:

Mexican

Boxing is HUGE in Mexico and no country to date has produced more champions (over 200). The sport really hit it big over there in the 1930s, particularly when Francisco Cabanas Pardo won a gold medal in the 1932 Olympic games. The country continued to develop, usually in the non-heavyweight classes, and really gained prominence again in the 1980s with the rise of Julio Cesar Chavez.

The Mexican style didn't start with the aforementioned JCC, but he really exemplified it and helped bring it to a world stage. Generally, Mexican boxers are swarmer/pressure type of fighter, often pressing forward, throwing lots of punches and often taking punches to land one or two more. It is generally more based on speed and relentless pressure vs. pure power. Some Mexican boxers have solid defense, but for the most part, it is very much an offensive system. Extreme toughness and perseverance are also two characteristics you need to fight like this and their fighters generally exude both of those qualities. When two fighters from Mexico get into the ring, you are usually in for an exciting battle. 

You may also hear people refer to a "Mexican hook" but I do not believe it is a universally accepted term. What they are generally referring to is also sometimes called a "shovel hook" and I, in classes, have called it a "45" because it is a hook that travels at a 45-degree angle, coming upwards from a lower start point. Almost like a hook and an uppercut combined. The liver shot or spleen punch can often come from this angle. Juan Manuel Marquez was very much known for the punch and we will see it from Mexico's biggest star right now as well - Canelo Alvarez. (NOTE: I just did a google search for this and also saw one site referring to it as a "Mexican Uppercut" but I believe we are talking about the same thing).

Soviet/Pre-21st Century Eastern Europe

Before the collapse of the USSR, Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union had some of the greatest amateur boxers. There are plenty of dominant professional fighters who have come from that region most recently but their styles are a little more varied that what became known as the Russian school of boxing (Dimitry Bivol is a an exception there, as his style is pretty classic Soviet).

Unfortunately for me, this style of fighting bears no resemblance to the training of Ivan Drago in Rocky 4. No red lights, countless electronic devices and guys in white coats scribbling down things on clipboards. In fact, since Russian boxers did not compete professionally the way American fighters do, their objective was to dominate amateur competitions based on a point system, so Drago-like aggression and 2000+ PSI punches would not be representative of a Russian boxer in the 1980s.

But that doesn't make it not interesting. In fact, both Soviet and Cuban boxers are by FAR the most technical fighters of all the regional styles. Cubans slightly more so but we will talk about them later. Counterpunching, even while working backwards, is a trademark of the Russian school of boxing that we don't see as much from other countries. That being said, they are also taught not to get caught on the ropes for very long since that will not impress judges or allow them to have the ring control that they depend on. Straight punches, jabs and crosses as well as longer hooks are used to keep their opponents at bay with a higher, taller guard.

Because they are so good at fighting backwards, the Soviet method is very well defined by throwing punches with the entire body and very active footwork. Sometimes you will hear their footwork and punching described as being like a pendulum. It is very fluid, legs and arms working together, and when mapped to the universal boxing styles, it generally falls/fell into the category of the Outboxer. Pretty much the opposite of what I just talked about with the Mexican style. And if two guys from cold war era Soviet Union stepped into ring, we would probably be looking at a pretty boring fight in terms of knockout action, although highly technical.

Cuban

When it comes to international amateur competitions - like the Olympics, Pan American Games, etc., Cuba has been an incredibly dominant force for years. Probably the most dominant of any single country. This is an even more remarkable feat when you consider how small Cuba is. It may not be that surprising that of all the regional styles, Cuban boxing is probably the most well-defined. And there is a good reason for this.

There were some successful Cuban boxers in the early days, even some champions in the 50s, but their styles were more derived from the American influence (one of their most well-known champs, Kid Gavilan, is credited for having invented the bolo punch). After the communist revolution in 1959, Castro would ban professional boxing a couple years later but put a lot of money into their amateur national program, just like the Soviet Union did. In fact, the Soviets sent one of their great trainers to help teach them the Eastern European techniques as well as set up a standardized training protocol, including recruiting promising young athletes at an early age and molding them into perfect boxing machines.

While you can walk into any boxing gym in the US and learn the fundamentals differently, based on the coach you get, this was not the case in Cuba or the USSR. There was only one way to learn, with everything in a specific order taught a specific way, totally nationalized. Because Cuba is particularly small, they were most likely able to maintain this uniformity in a way that even the Russians could not. But just like Russia, it was very important for Cubans to excel on the global stage like the Olympics, so lots of love and care was put into their national program.

In terms of what it is, the Cuban style is quite similar to the Soviets, with more emphasis on footwork and angles (some people say this is the Cuban rhythm of dancing merged into the Russian method). Defense is placed above offense and fundamentals are critical. You will never see a Cuban boxer without rock-solid fundamentals. They place a premium on it and drill like crazy. This also makes them more conservative, sticking mainly to jabs and crosses at a distance, body shots in close, never really opening up and allowing themselves to potentially get countered unless their opponent is hurt/tired and nonresponsive. Like the Russians, the Cuban system is focused on amateur competition and points so power and knockouts are not the primary objective. Instead, it is a counterpunching system designed to frustrate and pick apart opponents (and it has definitely had success at the pro level too). The pawing jab is something we see from a lot of their fighters, in an attempt to draw their opponent out and throw something reckless. 

British

While combat sports have pretty much been around since the dawn of time, it was in the United Kingdom where the official sport and rules of what we know as boxing originated. The Brits have a rich history of great boxers, performing well as amateurs and at the professional level. Their style is a little hard to define because they have produced such a diverse group of fighters. Some outliers aside, I think it is safe to say they are more much more aggressive than the Soviets and Cubans, but certainly not as much as the Mexican style. Team GB usually have higher guards and press forward in the ring, without a ton of head movement.

Another thing I've heard said that seems pretty accurate most of the time is that the British are often good at everything but not particularly amazing at anything. Their fighters move well but don't have great footwork. Many of them have power but nobody has great power. Somewhat fluid but not too super smooth. Technical but not pitch perfect. There are exceptions and outliers here, for sure, like Prince Naseem Hamed and Joe Calzaghe. One thing I would say is pretty common for all of their boxers - including the Irish who I  know are not part of the empire but still close enough - is that they have a lot of heart.

USA! USA!!!

Just like the United States itself, American-style boxing is far less defined, with diverse influences from all over. We are a melting pot of ideas and that very much includes boxing styles.

Mexico may have had more champions, Cuba and the old Soviet Union teach far superior fundamentals, but the greatest fighters of all time are from the good, ol' US of A. Maybe this will change over time, as many of the champions currently are not American, but you look at anybody's all-time Top 10 list and it will be pretty all-American. Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr. Marvin Hagler, Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins, Andre Ward, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson (while maybe not on plenty of people's Top 10 lists, few have captured the imagination of the country and boxing world like he did in the 80s). These are household names here, not just because we are Americans but because they dominated the sport and did so with panache and flair and excitement that could only come from the US.

Speaking to my earlier point, just about all of those famous fighters I listed above are totally different from each other. The American style has no definitive characteristics except that we place a high value on money and fame and our fighters are often chasing those things to some degree. Though we used to be very successful in international competitions, we are geared towards professional boxing as opposed to amateur. Whatever gets people to tune in is generally what we promote and try to produce. This is not a bad thing either. Makes boxing a lot more interesting and it has been sad to see the decline in USA boxing, on both the amateur and professional levels. Hopefully it will swing back, but nothing can diminish the things we have achieved.

Also as I mentioned earlier, the United States has always been good about incorporating ideas and styles from all around the world. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fights/fought much more like an 80s/90s Soviet than anything else. And ironically, the "Philly Shell" defense he is known for may have gotten popular in Philadelphia gyms (though Floyd Jr.'s dad learned it in Detroit), that style did not originate in Philly. An Argentinian, Nicolino Locche, developed something pretty identical in the 60s.

Despite all the diversity, I think it is fair to say that American fighters are not as technically sharp as European or Cuban fighters, and offense - particularly power - is placed above defense (Floyd not withstanding). Probably the greatest athletes in the world come from the USA and while many of them go into our more popular sports, I think athleticism often allows Americans to get away with less-than-perfect fundamentals. We also have a culture that supports creativity to flourish and not coloring inside the lines is encouraged if it is successful and generates excitement. It should also be noted that the United States has primarily been known for great heavyweight boxers and that division tends to get the most attention from casual fans and general pop culture. Hopefully we can find another good one soon!

Honorable Mentions

There are great fighters from all over the world. Puerto Rico is certainly another great example of a small island who produces great boxers. Mostly in the Boxer-Puncher mold but with some of the aggressive characteristics of the Mexican style. Boxers from Japan tend to fight like warriors and never give up (unfortunately this also leads to them having the highest mortality-rate for boxers). Chile used to be a bigger player in the global boxing arena. The Philippines are yet another small island (well, chain of islands) who are producing a high amount of talented boxers per capita. And Greenland? Don't even get me started on Greenland!! Okay, maybe not that country but I could go on and on. In terms of regional styles though, usually you will hear about the ones I have mentioned - Mexican, Soviet/Eastern Europe, Cuban, and maybe British and American. 

Remember These Are Just Stereotypes!

Note that again, these are stereotypes. It this does not mean everyone from these regions fights the same way. GGG is from Eastern Europe, but his style is very much like a Mexican fighter. Floyd Mayweather Jr., as I talked about before,  is probably closest to a Soviet boxer than anything else. There are great Mexican counterpunchers. There are aggressive Cubans who press forward (Guillermo Rigondeaux is an example). Anybody can box in any style they want and with many training all over the world now, with different coaches and teams, I think a lot of these regional styles may start to fade away and/or morph into something more varied. The traditional Soviet/Eastern European prototype already has. But it is interesting to see how culture and even political events have influenced our wonderful, global sport.