Wednesday 9 August 2017 15:14, UK
UFC analyst Dan Hardy's first Sky Sports diary explains the intricacies of Conor McGregor swapping 4oz gloves for 10oz versions...
The biggest impact is on Floyd Mayweather's defence. The 10oz boxing gloves are more of a defensive shield.
In MMA you can be punched straight through your guard because the gloves are so small. In boxing, Floyd can use his lead shoulder to cover one side of his face and his glove to cover the other side. You can't do that in MMA, so Floyd has an advantage with the bigger gloves.
The weight of the gloves doesn't make any difference, especially when you factor in the adrenaline of fight night.
The weight makes a difference in training, when you're throwing thousands of punches. But in the fight, it doesn't make much of a difference.
If you held 2oz of foam padding in your hand, it has a size, but it's spread around the glove.
When I wear 8oz boxing gloves for bag work, it feels like I've got bowling balls for hands. When you close your hands it pulls even tighter around your hand, especially if you've got wraps around your hands.
A 10oz glove has more padding and more space. They feel more cumbersome - but, if I'm using them to defend my face, I want as much padding as possible.
A 10oz glove has more padding and more space. They feel more cumbersome - but, if I'm using them to defend my face, I want as much padding as possible.
I trained in boxing gloves my whole life. The only time I wore MMA gloves is for light training before a fight, or during a fight itself.
MMA gloves are designed to protect the fighter's hands - the padding is stripped back to give us the freedom to grip. That changes how you throw a punch, and how a punch penetrates the guard.
Gloves will change the position of your hands. A 10oz glove doesn't let you close your fist - this is partly why Floyd has so much trouble with his hands. He isn't making a proper fist, and his hands are not conditioned.
I conditioned myself to punch without a glove and Conor comes from the same school of thought. Floyd has trained his whole life in gloves that do not encourage the correct hand position.
