Boxing gloves have been in existence since 3000 years ago and its been since then that they have undergone rapid changes. One of the most admirable changes that have occurred in the beginning was that the Greek Olympians made the usage of leather straps so that they could protect their knuckles. Further the Greek philosophers shared the information with the Romans, who in turn took the sport to a whole new level. But the fact which can never be forgotten is that the Romans added few additional things to the gloves which led to the death of many competitors. After this event the situation became so bad that the sport was taken to a level, wherein they had to strictly ban the sport in 30.B.C. However the sport did not go away entirely irrespective of the fact that it was considered as a serious threat. There were still cases where the people were found in the boxing rings fighting with bare knuckles. But this was considered to be completely illegal and these fights happened completely without the sanction of the government.
However the sport gained its popularity back in the 17th century and there was re- incarnation of the boxing gloves in the ring. Thus their was revival of boxing gloves in the ring, but however it was noticed that people preferred to fight with bare knuckles in the ring, the fighters still lost their precious life inspite of the fact that the boxers fighting bare knuckles was illegal, but still there was no priority given to this fact.
The sport gained respect and revival through the inclusion of the Marques of Queensbury rules and boxing gloves as one of the most important component of the boxing ring. All this was made compulsory in the 19th century. The rules of conduct were sanctioned and the sport was given a clean chit to be progressed further. And the progress it has seen is just tremendous, there are several kinds of boxing gloves available for the different sections of the society like you have separate gloves for male, female, competition and the non competition styles. The sport has gained tremendous popularity these days and boxing these days is considered as a very effective form of exercise. The gloves are also used in the martial art of kickboxing. In kickboxing although we realize the fact that primarily legs are used but there is a complete requirement that the hands need to be provided with full protection.
There are different types of boxing gloves designed for specific purpose. The speed bag glove is used in situations where there is more importance given to the speed rather than the force, in such situation the knuckles of the boxers are well protected. A heavier bag glove is made use of in the case where there is more focus laid on the force rather than the speed. The next type of the gloves is the sparring gloves that are mostly used in the training ring. They are heavily padded almost weighing between 14 to 20 ounces. The competition gloves are the other type of gloves wherein they are built using strict standards. The right kind of the boxing gloves have to be used in the right area based on the specific needs of the sport.