# Make boxing safer - get rid of gloves?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [September 10, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526 "2013-09-10T21:15:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/1 "2013-09-10T21:15:24Z")
I love the martial art of boxing and do a bit myself, so my eye was drawn to [this](http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929290.200-ban-boxing--its-demeaning-and-dangerous.html) opinion piece by a neuroscientist calling for it to be banned, particularly this line;
“This damage may be aggravated by boxing gloves since they add weight and thus energy to punches, causing more rotational acceleration.”
JFGI reveals a few discussions of the subject but no concrete answers; theories being that gloves were added to make the rounds last longer and give punters their moneys worth and that you can’t hit as hard with a bare fist to the face as you’ll just mash your hand up. So, if tomorrow we banned boxing gloves in matches tomorrow could we expect more or less fatalities in boxing? Would the injuries be less severe?
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### Author:  [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/2 "2013-09-10T21:18:16Z")
I’d think that the brain injuries would decrease. Bare fists would cut more, bruise more, but it would result in less overall blows to the head. The idea that the gloves add more energy/force/momentum though isn’t sound imo.
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### Author:  [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/3 "2013-09-10T21:24:11Z")
I think head injuries would decrease if you got rid of the ten count. MMA doesn’t have one, when you are out, you are done. The gloves are to protect the hand. Are there really that many fatalities in boxing to begin with? I thought the accumulated (thousands) of blows to the head was the real danger.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/4 "2013-09-10T21:35:05Z")
> [@Lanzy](#):
>
> I thought the accumulated (thousands) of blows to the head was the real danger.
This is one of the arguments of the piece in the OP;
“Large haemorrhages are what cause boxers to fall into comas and occasionally die during bouts, but the microscopic tears to blood vessels can be no less damaging in the long run.”
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### Author:  [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/5 "2013-09-11T16:08:12Z")
No gloves wwould mean less hits to the head, as the point of the gloves is to protect the hands. That would necessarily reduce cumulative damage to the brain. Anyone supporting the use of boxing gloves in matches might as well walk around in a t-shirt with “I love brain damage” written on the front.
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### Author:  [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/6 "2013-09-11T17:11:14Z")
I remember reading awhile back (many years) that the AMA demanded protective head gear in professional boxing. I just did a search, and apparently there is some controversy and headgear may not help.
I live in Mexico and the locals love boxing. When they are watching it, I cannot bear to see it. It seems that I feel the boxer’s pain. Ouch!
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### Author:  [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/7 "2013-09-11T17:16:35Z")
Makes sense to me. Would a boxer punch with as much force if their hands we’re not protected by the gloves?
I think there’s a similar concept at work in American football and head injuries. Players with hard helmets on feel more confident in ramming their heads into other players and other helmets leading to a greater likelihood of concussion and long-term damage. I bet if they took the helmets off there would be fewer concussions.
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### Author:  [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/8 "2013-09-11T18:00:20Z")
I’ve been hit hard with gloves and with bare fists … I doubt it would make the sport safer. I think you’d have a slightly different set of champions … you’d get more guys with big thick-skinned fists, more broken facial bones, more internal injuries, and the causes of death and maiming may shift to include more abdominal injuries, more random blood clots traveling to places you’d rather they didn’t, and more permanent blindness. The hand injuries would increase, of course, but the lure of big purses is such, IMO, that a knockout to the head would still be the default goal of the match. It would make for some bloody and dramatic bouts.
If proof that bare-fisted boxing reduces mortality in the sport results in more bare-fisted boxing, I’m all for it. I’m afraid, though, that the end result would be an all-out ban.
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/9 "2013-09-11T18:56:01Z")
> [@tullsterx](#):
>
> Makes sense to me. Would a boxer punch with as much force if their hands we’re not protected by the gloves?
>
> I think there’s a similar concept at work in American football and head injuries. Players with hard helmets on feel more confident in ramming their heads into other players and other helmets leading to a greater likelihood of concussion and long-term damage. I bet if they took the helmets off there would be fewer concussions.
There have been a number of studies which suggest that increased use of bicycle helmets has lead to an increase in risky behavior by bicyclists, because hey, they’re wearing a helmet, so it’s all good, right?
Basically, there’s a trade-off with safety gear in that it tends to make the people using it think they’re invincible.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/10 "2013-09-11T20:48:22Z")
> [@blindboyard](#):
>
> No gloves wwould mean less hits to the head, as the point of the gloves is to protect the hands. That would necessarily reduce cumulative damage to the brain.
That’s actually what my grandfather (former 1930s era amateur boxer) said some 20 years ago when there was a news story about the safety of boxing, etc…
He suggested they get rid of gloves, since they’re intended to protect your hands, not the other guy, and if you were bare-knuckling it, you’d be a lot more cautious about where and how you punched.
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### Author:  [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/11 "2013-09-11T21:18:41Z")
> [@blindboyard](#):
>
> NAnyone supporting the use of boxing gloves in matches might as well walk around in a t-shirt with “I love brain damage” written on the front.
I doubt that you’d have too much trouble selling those shirts at matches.
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### Author:  [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/12 "2013-09-11T21:23:12Z")
I’ve heard the same story about football too. That the athletes’ body armor, and especially their space age helmets, simply makes it easier to cause trauma to their opponents on the playing field, but provides very little protection against brain injuries. I’m not sure how true that is, but it sounds convincing.
Sort of like cars from the 50s. Those things were tanks. They’d survive a wreck that splattered the passengers inside. Nowadays cars may look like crumpled paper after a wreck, but the passengers can walk away with out a scratch.
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### Author:  [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/13 "2013-09-11T21:38:21Z")
It might make boxing safer. So what?
If a boxer wants to risk cumulative brain damage in pursuit of his passion, it’s none of my business.
Hell, when he’s beaten and broken, scarred and shaking, he becomes a great fundraising tool…
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### Author:  [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/14 "2013-09-11T21:54:18Z")
> [@palacheck](#):
>
> It might make boxing safer. So what?
>
> If a boxer wants to risk cumulative brain damage in pursuit of his passion, it’s none of my business.
And if he doesn’t…?
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### Author:  [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/15 "2013-09-12T07:34:52Z")
Fewer number of rounds, put in a limit on age and the number of career fights. The gloves are to protect one’s hands. Keep them on. Also put on head protectors.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/16 "2013-09-12T07:59:56Z")
**Moderator Action**
Since this is sports related, I’m going to move it to The Game Room.
Moving thread from General Questions to The Game Room.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/17 "2013-09-12T12:05:24Z")
The problem is all the head-gear in the world won’t protect the brain from being sloshed around in the skull. That is where the CTE damage originates.
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### Author:  [@Virgil\_Tibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Virgil_Tibbs)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/18 "2013-09-12T13:27:57Z")
My understanding is that gloves were introduced to make the sport less bloody and therefore more socially acceptable. They made the sport more dangerous for the reason given above.
It’s like the difference between kicking a ball barefoot or with shoes on.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/19 "2013-09-12T20:08:39Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> The problem is all the head-gear in the world won’t protect the brain from being sloshed around in the skull. That is where the CTE damage originates.
Yep, same problem with football helmets. We have no way to secure the brain inside the brainpan.
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### Author:  [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-boxing-safer-get-rid-of-gloves/668526/20 "2013-09-12T21:09:25Z")
They’re already [getting rid of headgear](http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/9087686/olympic-boxing-drops-head-guards-changes-scoring-system), so maybe gloves won’t be far behind.
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