Boxing is among one of the most popular sports in the world which involves striking a punching bag, speed bag, punching mitts, etc with gloved hands. These days boxing has turned into a more theatrical sport with world champions earning huge sums of money every time they fight.
Muay Thai is a combat sport that traces its origins back to the early days of Thailand. It is a martial art that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. Muay Thai is commonly referred to as the ‘art of eight limbs‘ because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes.
Muay Thai and Boxing have a lot in common including their stances, strikes, clinching techniques, and so on. However, Muay Thai is not considered as an actual form of boxing because there are several key differences between the two.
TL;DR: You can use Boxing Gloves in Muay Thai fights, but you’ll get a little bit hard time using them. Mainly, because Muay Thai gloves are smaller and lighter than Boxing gloves which are bigger and heavy.
Boxing Gloves:
The boxing gloves are much bigger as opposed to the Muay Thai gloves which are smaller and concentrated on hand strikes. The gloves involved in boxing have larger cuffs that cover the wrist of the hand whereas Muay Thai gloves have smaller cuffs that don’t completely cover the wrists of the fighter.
Muay Thai Gloves:
The Muay Thai gloves are much lighter when compared to boxing gloves. They are usually made of leather or tap with less weight to make them easier for the fighter to move his hands with. Boxing gloves have more padding on the inside and outside of the glove to protect your hand while you punch your opponent.
Muay Thai gloves are also more flexible in comparison to boxing gloves. The reason why Muay Thai gloves are flexible is that they don’t need the extra padding that boxing gloves have since they don’t rely on punching your opponent with full force.
Difference Between Boxing & Muay Thai Gloves:
Palm Difference:
The palm of boxing gloves is usually angled whereas the palm of Muay Thai gloves is flatter. This means that boxing gloves will have a harder time gripping your opponent as it will be tough for you to bend your fingers with the bulkier cuffs on top.
The Palm of Muay Thai Gloves is more curved, which allows you to grip your opponent better. This lets Muay Thai Fighters bend their fingers easier compared to boxers.
Thumb Difference:
The thumb of boxing gloves is usually attached to the cuff of the glove because it can get in the way of your opponent if it’s not sewn into the mitts. On the other hand, the thumb of Muay Thai gloves is left unattached because it is required for clinching.
Boxing Gloves have a sewn-in thumb, which blocks the view of your opponent when they are trying to clinch. The thumb on Muay Thai Gloves helps out with clinching techniques by wrapping your fingers around your opponent’s neck and waist.
Padding:
Boxing Gloves have a larger amount of padding on the outside of the glove to protect you when you punch your opponent whereas Muay Thai gloves have more padding on the inside, near the knuckles so that it can protect your bones while clinching or blocking kicks.
The outside padding of Boxing Gloves helps to protect your opponent while the inside padding is for protecting your hands. This lets a boxer hit a punching bag without worrying about hurting his hands, which comes in handy when training.
Cuff:
The Cuff of a Boxing Glove covers the wrist and part of your forearm whereas Muay Thai Gloves have smaller cuffs because they don’t need to cover the entire arm. They usually go just past your wrist.
Boxing Gloves have longer cuffs that wrap around your wrist because it offers extra protection against injuries from striking your opponent with full force or being kicked or elbowed by them.
The smaller cuffs of Muay Thai gloves aid in blocking kicks from an opponent as well as clinching techniques.
Size:
Boxing Gloves are usually bigger and heavier when compared to Muay Thai gloves. Therefore it’s easier for a boxer to hit his opponent with full force because the boxing gloves have more weight behind them. This allows boxers who have a strong punch to cause serious damage, which is why they train so hard at the gym to increase their power.
Muay Thai Gloves tend to be smaller and lighter in comparison to boxing gloves. This is because muay thai fighters don’t need as much padding on their glove. After all, they aren’t trying to hit their opponent with all their strength.
The lack of weight makes it harder for a Muay Thai Fighter to hit his opponent with full force, but it also lets the Muay Thai fighter move around quickly.
Shape:
The shape of a Boxing Glove is more conical because it offers better fist protection when compared to Muay Thai Gloves. This makes it easier for boxers to cause damage without worrying about injuring their hands on another part of their opponent’s body.
Muay Thai gloves have a flat surface at the end which makes it harder for you to injure another part of your opponent’s body while punching them. The flat surface also helps you block kicks from an opponent.
Flexibility:
Boxing Gloves are typically less flexible than muay thai gloves since they need extra padding on the exterior of their gloves to protect your opponent while you hit them. This also makes it easier for boxers to cause more damage since they have less flexibility.
Muay Thai Gloves are usually more flexible than boxing gloves because there is no need for extra padding like on boxing gloves. The lack of extra bulk lets Muay Thai Fighters move around faster and make tight turns, which helps when trying to avoid kicks from an opponent or blocking them with your arms.
Muay Thai Fighters rely on blocking kicks from an opponent or arm strikes rather than punches.
Wrist Support:
Boxing Gloves offer much better wrist support than Muay thai gloves because the cuffs fit snugly around your wrist and attach at the back of your hand and forearm. As a result, Boxing Gloves hold your wrists better even if you hit your opponent with full force.
Muay Thai Gloves don’t offer as much wrist support because they aren’t as bulky and therefore don’t hold your wrists as well. This leaves the Muay Thai Fighter susceptible to getting his or her wrist injured if they hit their opponent too hard.
Boxing Gloves are typically more expensive than muay thai gloves because of the extra protection that boxing gloves offer and the ease with which boxers can cause damage to their opponents, which is why people who do both fighting styles prefer to use boxing gloves when training for fights.
Muay Thai Gloves are usually less expensive than boxing gloves but this also depends on quality. Since muay thai fighters don’t need the padding of a boxing glove to protect themselves, they can purchase a cheaper glove that can still last a long time.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, boxing gloves offer more protection from injury and are better for hitting your opponent with full force because of the extra padding. However, muay thai gloves allow you to move around much faster and block kicks easier due to their smaller and lighter design.
Muay Thai training requires less equipment than boxing does but this also depends on individual preference as well as location and gym availability.
If you do both types of fighting styles then it’s best to train in whatever way is most convenient for you as well as whatever method suits your fighting style the best.
