So you’re looking to get your hands on a fresh pair of boxing gloves just for use on the heavy bag?
You might have experienced some hand or wrist injuries because you’re a heavy hitter, or you just really want to keep your hands protected for regular practice on the bag.
My current favorite glove options for the heavy bag are the Fairtex BGV9 because of its glove style and reliability for heavy hitters, and the Hayabusa T3 for its supreme levels of wrist support (which I care about the most):
Sick and tired of the pain caused by your regular gloves? Help yourself and find out the best bag gloves below.
Table of Contents
Top 7 gloves for the heavy bag
Let’s crack on with the complete list of boxing glove options that are good for heavy bags so you can make the right choice for you.
Fairtex BGV14
Fairtex BGV14 is a durable all-around glove that’s worth its price. With its well-padded knuckle and decent wrist closure, it’s easy to say this is a viable option for multiple purposes.
- Decent all-around boxing or Muay Thai glove
- Good knuckle padding and resistance
- Extremely durable microfibre
- Medium flexible wrist crease for Muay Thai/Kickboxing
- Sizes 8oz to 16oz
- Thumb positioning could be better/more comfortable
- Doesn't provide the highest level of wrist support
BGV14 is another mixture of a sparring and bag glove. These gloves are suitable for heavy bag usage because they’re made with padding that’s thick enough to absorb plenty of impact across the knuckles.
I’ve used this glove for over a year and had good performance and protection while using in a variety of training like on the mitts, on the heavy bag, and even in sparring. The microfibre material makes it incredibly long-lasting, too.
It’s a comfortable boxing glove. The only issues are that these are Muay Thai style and rely on a single hook & loop closure, which means that there’s a fair bit of flexibility in the wrist.
More flexibility in the wrist can be an issue for heavy hitters or using on the heavy bag where you are likely to land your biggest shots. If you don’t have good form, your wrists will suffer.
There’s some airflow with air vents along the thumb and palm of the glove, but it can still get pretty sweaty! You will want to clean these boxing gloves well after using them.
This glove performs well on the heavy bag. This could be good for you if you’re looking for a budget glove that gives decent reliability for multiple purposes!
Ringside Cleto Reyes Traditional Bag Gloves
These traditional-styled Cleto Reyes bag gloves could be the perfect pick for those who want a glove only for use on a heavy bag.
The padding is focused entirely over the knuckles and back of the hand, which feels much less than regular boxing gloves, but when used for precision striking on the bag, it still offers excellent protection against even the heaviest shockwaves you can make.
- Classic heavy bag glove with open thumb
- Premium leather construction
- Glove design focused for precise bag hitting
- Protects knuckles well
- Available in sizes Small to X-Large
- Inner lining can degrade with frequent use and improper care
- Only suitable to use on heavy bag
If you’re certain that the only thing you need in your life is a glove to smash up the heavy bag and not much else, then these Cleto Reyes traditional bag gloves could be ideal.
They follow a classic design used by boxers for several generations during intense heavy bag sessions. It’s a relatively simple rectangular padding over the back of the hand and the knuckles, with not much else.
Most boxing gloves have padding in all kinds of places, but not these, as you can see.
BUT that doesn’t necessarily make them a bad option. If you just need a glove for heavy bag training, at home or wherever, they still provide great comfort and protection over your knuckles.
It could depend a bit on your level. If you’re a beginner, you should probably avoid using gloves like these because an awkward strike that catches your thumb the wrong way could stop you from training for weeks.
Intermediates and advanced boxers/martial artists will enjoy them, though. There’s enough padding in these gloves to keep your knuckles protected, but it’s not so much that you can’t work on precision hitting.
They can feel a bit like wearing an MMA glove with less padding. That can be good or bad for you, depending on your punching form, how hard you hit, etc. So pick wisely!
Hayabusa T3
Hayabusa's T3 line of boxing gloves excels in the industry at providing wrist support and stability to the hand.
Where most boxing gloves have a simple single velcro wrist strap, Hayabusa's Dual-X strapping, and Fusion Splinting tech keep your hand and wrist aligned and secure - preventing many common injuries.
The price of this T3 model is incredibly competitive for the technology you're getting.
- Vylar-engineered leather material
- 5-layer foam padding
- Dual-X strapping closure system keeps wrist and hand secure
- Fusion Splinting ensures hand-to-wrist alignment for added stability
- Grip bar for holding a tight fist
- Perforated and elasticated palm
- Available in sizes 10oz-18oz for all needs and fighter weights
- 18+ color variations to choose from
- Dual straps can be a bit fiddly to wear and take off
- Needs extra care to keep them odor free
Hayabusa T3 gloves are for heavy-bag hitters who want to look good while putting on the work. It provides a premium, stylish look that is unique from many other kinds of boxing gloves.
Its beauty comes with a good performance on the bag. Thanks to its 5-layered foam that absorbs the impact when your fist lands. It also shines on wrist support with its Dual-X strap velcro lock system and Fusion Splinter core.
It’s primarily a bag glove, but you can also use the T3 glove on the mitts or during your sparring sessions.
This glove shines well in sparring, protecting your hands and wrists from awkward angle effects, and is well-padded enough to be safer for your partner.
When I reviewed the Hayabusa Marvel boxing glove in the Deadpool edition, I was kind of blown away by the attention to detail that covers what a fighter is looking for in a boxing glove. Exemplary structure and padding to protect your hands, and great style.
The sizing you choose depends on your preferences, the style of training/fighting you’ll do with them, and your weight.
If you want to focus mainly on precision striking development, then a smaller ounce glove like the 10 oz or 12 oz will be what you want. But if you want or need a ton of extra padding for hefty hits on the bag or sparring, you need to consider 16 oz or 18 oz.
Ring to Cage Super Bag
These Ring to Cage Super Bag gloves make it happen for a fighter looking for some extra resistance on their boxing gloves.
Each pair comes with 2 x 4 (8 total) small weights that can be inserted to make up to 32 oz weighted gloves for heavy resistance that will increase your speed, integral strength, and endurance for punching.
- All-leather gloves with zipper wrist pockets for adding weights
- 8 weight bars included in a pair, 4 weights per glove
- Hook and Loop closure for wrist stability
- Big gloves, good for big hands
- Gloves weigh 14 oz, one size fits most
- Glove can weigh up to 32 oz with all weights for increasing resistance
- Extra weights can wear down the glove in time
- Can be uncomfortable to use with weights
What makes the Ring to Cage Super Bag exceptional is the extra glove weights. These extra weights are inserted into the wrist area; their job is to add weight to your hands while throwing your punches.
These weights are a game-changer for anyone’s heavy bag workout as it aims to improve your punching speed and power simultaneously. After several rounds of wearing the weights, try to remove them all at once and be shocked at how light your hands feel.
The gloves are easy to wear and take off despite the weight present on the wrists. Simple hook and loop to open and drop down when you’re done.
They’re also affordable gloves, which makes it a sweeter deal. A really decent option considering the price, the protection for heavy bag use, and the additional added weights feature to improve your workouts.
Fairtex BGV9 Heavy Hitter Mexican Style
Well-padded Mexican-style boxing and Muay Thai gloves for heavy bag hitters.
A Mexican-style Muay Thai glove that has good knuckle support paddings. It has a longer than usual cuff section for better wrist protection which is much needed for a heavy bag workout, especially for heavy hitters. It also has more than a dozen color schemes to choose from.
- Handcrafted premium leather
- Multi-layer foam padding
- Long cuff area for added wrist support
- Extra thick knuckle padding
- Balanced knuckle-to-wrist weight ratio
- Great for heavy bag or heavy hitters
- Might be too long strapping for shorter people
- Single velcro hook & loop
Fairtex BGV9 Heavy Hitter Mexican Style is a Muay Thai glove with a fair amount of padding on the knuckles and wrist area. Fairtex specializes in Muay Thai/Kickboxing glove options, so that might seal the deal for you.
This training glove is a hybrid of sparring and heavy bag gloves. In short, it’s designed for heavy hitters (like the Mexican boxing style is best known for) with considerable foam padding over the knuckles.
What makes this glove unique for bag sessions is its balanced knuckle-to-wrist weight. This gives its wearer an even distribution of impact absorption when landing a shot on the bag.
It also adds an element of safety because some unbalanced glove tends to give fighters more wrist injuries.
Hitting the heavy bag puts a lot of pressure on the wrist. BGV9 has a more extended cuff than usual, providing more wrist support that absorbs the impact from heavy punches.
Despite the ability to withstand a heavy bag session, the BGV9 is still a decent hybrid glove. Meaning to say, it’s in the middle of sparring and a bag glove. So you could consider using this for both purposes if you get the appropriate size.
Another excellent reason to consider these gloves is that they are available in sizes ranging from 6 oz all the way up to 18 oz. So choosing a 16 oz or 18 oz glove will make them very suitable for sparring if you want them for that, or at least plenty of padding for the heavy bag.
Title Gel World Bag Gloves
A world-class bag glove that offers top-of-the-line technology. It has gel-infused linings that create a custom form fit and provides an extra impact absorber making it one of the best heavy bag gloves available on the market.
- All outer leather material
- Enhanced glove lining for cool and dry comfort
- Gel Enforced Lining creates a significant shock absorber to protect your hands
- Great option for both men and women
- One glove weight in 16 oz
- Available in hand sizes Medium-XL
- Bigger hand size chosen adds more gel which can change the final weight of the gloves
- Needs better breathability for moisture/sweat
The Title Gel bag gloves are a unique option on this list as they are designed specifically for heavy bag use, so all good there.
But they also have a unique “Gel Enforced Lining”. This means that there are pockets of gel inside the glove where your hands sit, especially over the knuckles and the back of the hand.
The gel acts as a molding that helps you get a bit better form around your particular hand shape and size with use. More than that, the gel is a natural shock absorber.
So when you’re hitting that heavy bag as hard as possible, the gel inside these gloves eats up a lot of the returning energy and can save the delicate bones in your fingers, hands, and wrists.
These probably aren’t suitable as an all-around glove, like for sparring, because it has a metal piece in the D-ring hook and loop closure strap, which I’m really not a fan of. It’s too risky to catch your sparring partner with metal, and it really shouldn’t be anywhere near gloves in my opinion.
Other than that, these are such an excellent option for any boxing practitioner that loves to go hard on the heavy bag on a regular basis because you’ll have a decent safety net with these gloves.
Venum Elite Boxing Gloves
The Venum Elite has become one of the most popular glove options on the market for its consistency in design, style, form, and protection.
It's a glove that provides a good base for all kinds of use, including heavy bags, mitts, and even sparring.
- Premium Skintex (synthetic) leather
- Handmade in Thailand
- Triple-density foam padding
- Shock absorption feels like pillows
- Available in sizes 8oz-16oz
- Tons of colors/styles to choose from
- Biggest/heaviest hands might need something bigger/heavier
- Outer decal could catch a sparring partner
- Not real leather, synthetic
Another fantastic option is the Venum Elites because they offer an excellent all-round glove, but have a significant level of padding, making them a common choice for bag work.
While having tons of padding for heavy bag use isn’t necessary (it depends on what you need or want to focus on), a lot of people choose this glove because of its affordability and extra level of padding all over the knuckles, lead finger, and back of the hand.
Fighters across the spectrum are using it. Both beginners and advanced fighters are enjoying this glove because it has “pillow-like” padding, and the synthetic leather lasts for months for even the hardest hitters.
As it comes in almost every size, women and men can both consider this glove an excellent secondary pair for focusing on just the bag.
Other boxing glove options to consider
I’ll review and update this article regularly to ensure the recommendations are accurate for the use case.
During a recent update, some boxing gloves fell off my top recommendations for the heavy bag. This could be because I simply would no longer recommend them, or a better option took its place.
But they are included here for your consideration:
Some other glove options didn’t quite make the cut, but came close, which I’ll also include below for you to check out:
- Everlast Train Advanced Wristwrap Heavy Bag Gloves (Super affordable, but I’m not a fan of generic sports brand equipment for martial artists)
- Sanabul Essential Gel Boxing Gloves (Low priced and the gel can be good to absorb impact for heavy bag use, still I can’t get on board with a glove this cheap)
- Venum Impact Boxing Gloves (Venum are a respectable brand to consider, but this specific model doesn’t have the right padding for a lot of heavy bag use)
- TITLE Boxing PRO Style Boxing Gloves (Not as good for heavy hitting as the Gel model already included in this list!)
Common questions about heavy bag gloves
You likely have had some questions about picking the right gloves for the heavy bag, so let me answer some of the most common ones to help you.
What gloves should I use on a heavy bag?
If you are trying to improve your speed and technique on the heavy bag, then you can wear 10-12oz bag gloves. But if you have massive hands or hit hard, you might consider using the larger glove size to protect your knuckles.
What oz gloves do pro boxers use for heavy bag?
Pro boxers will use a variety of glove sizes, depending on their training style. For maximizing speed and agility, a 10-12oz glove bag glove can be used but for training heavy hooks, a 14oz, 16oz, or even 18oz for the heavyweights might be necessary.
What size boxing glove is best for punching bag?
For most people, a smaller size, between 10-12oz glove is the best for training on a punching bag. Bigger-sized gloves have more padding, so they are usually reserved for sparring. But heavy hitters who want to protect their hands should also consider a bigger size.
Are 14 oz gloves good for heavy bag?
Gloves that weigh 14oz can be suitable for use on a heavy bag for a mid-weight person. Generally, lighter bag gloves are used, but if you need extra padding over the knuckles, then 14oz can be a good option for mixed uses.
Final say on heavy bag gloves
So there you have it. This is the end of our selection of the best boxing gloves for heavy bag use.
There are many great options here if you want an extra pair of gloves dedicated to hitting those power shots on the bag.
It’s critical to have sufficient hand protection when training like this, so you can keep injury-free and enjoy training all year.
