Boxing gloves have thick padding that cushions the blow of each punch to a point, but boxers risk breaking their bones or joints if they don’t wrap their hands properly.
The goal of wrapping your hands before training or fighting is to draw the joints and bones in your hands together; if your hands are not tightly wrapped, each punch might cause movement in the joints, resulting in joint or bone damage.
Professional boxers use hand wrap that is consisted of tape and thin gauze which is applied by the trainer before the fight. For day-to-day use in a boxing gym, professional boxers use cloth/cotton wraps.
Next, we will cover the exact reasons for wearing wraps, what types of boxing wraps are there, rules related to them, and describe what happened at the biggest boxing affair related to hand wraps.
Enjoy.
Why Exactly Should A Pro Boxer Wrap Their Hands
A wrap protects the hands, particularly from fractures, by preventing the bones from stretching outward and lowering the risk of certain types of fractures. Furthermore, there is a lot of extra padding on the knuckles, which absorbs a lot of energy and reduces the danger of hand injuries.
If you ever have the good fortune of being hit by a good boxer, you’ll notice that their hands can generate an incredible amount of power. People engaging in this sport would have a very limited shelf life if they didn’t wear gloves and hand covers. They’d fast been unable to compete after suffering bare-knuckle strikes and sustaining harm to their own hands.
Secondly, wraps act as a barrier between sweaty boxers’ hands and gloves, absorb sweat, and reduce foul odors. Wearing hand wraps is one of the most effective preventative actions they can take to keep their boxing gloves clean and fresh.
When should A Pro Boxer Wrap Their Hands
Pro boxers should use boxing hand wraps whenever they train and, in general, any time they are throwing a punch with full force or preparing to do so. When sparring with a partner, in all boxing contests, and during gym training, they should be extremely cautious about protecting their hands and wrists.
What Types Of Boxing Hand Wraps Are There?
If you walk into any boxing gym, you’ll find that the vast majority, if not all, of the boxers are using cotton hand wraps rather than tape or gauze wraps. Cotton wraps come in a range of colors and lengths, with the longer ones providing more protection. This sort of hand wrap is perfect since it can be washed and reused over and over again. It is also easy for fighters to wrap and unwrap them themselves, unlike hand wraps which are used during competitions.
Given the fighter’s earning potential, the protection of a boxer’s hands is critical in the professional ranks of the sport. As a result, a boxer’s trainer spends several minutes before the fight wrapping the fighter’s hands in multiple layers of gauze with athletic tape around the wrists and hands before each fight.
Rules And Regulations For Hand Wrap In Pro Boxing
According to the regulatory guidelines of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), the guidelines on what you can use to wrap your arms and how you should wrap them when competing under USA Boxing sanctions are very specific. All major professional boxing competitions held in the United States are governed by these regulatory standards and regulations.
The hand wraps must be no longer than twenty yards and no wider than two inches. Attach the gauze using only eight feet of duct tape that is no more than one and a half inches wide. When the hand is squeezed to create a fist, the adhesive tape should not cover any part of the joints. Water, or any other liquid or material, must not be soaked into the tape. Wraps are placed in the locker room in the presence of a Commission representative and, if requested, another boxer’s representative.
This is done so that no fighter can allege foul play after the fight, such as an illegal chemical in the wrap or gloves, because a member of their team was present during the wrapping.
Why Professional Boxers Hand Wraps Are Being Signed Before A Fight?
The boxing commission representative then puts his “mark” on the outside of the gloves, on the taped area, once the wrapping is completed and the gloves are placed on the boxer. It might be his initials, an x, or another mark.
Those signs and letters are made as verification that the hand wraps were inspected, and to prevent them from being modified in a way that gives an unfair advantage after the inspection.
Illegal Hand Wraps In Professional Boxing – Plaster Of Paris
Hand wraps have been around almost as long as boxing, and they can assist protect a fighter’s hands if done correctly. Multiple instances of strange chemicals and other things being placed under boxing gloves to toughen the knuckle have been documented in boxing.
The most common and controversial substance used in boxing for that purpose is called Plaster of Paris. It is a quick-setting gypsum plaster consisting of a fine white powder that hardens on contact with liquid, in this case, sweat. These are the most atrocious types of cheating in boxing, increasing the force present in an already lethal weapon, the fist, when toughened or filled with illegal substances. Doing this might result in serious injuries and perhaps the end of a career.
Most Disgraceful Affair In History Of Professional Boxing Regarding Hand Wraps
Luis Resto and his coach, Panama Lewis, were involved in the most famous boxing glove scandal during the fight against Billy Collins in the 1980s. Resto stunned undefeated potential boxer, Billy Collins Jr., by unanimous decision in 10 rounds at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
When Collins’ father and coach, Billy Sr., approached Rest to shake hands, he noticed that Resto’s gloves were thinner than usual. Collins Sr. screamed that the gloves lacked a base and demanded that they be seized by the New York State Athletic Commission.
According to the investigation, someone removed one ounce of the base from each of his gloves and then filled them with chalk. Collins ’eyes were swollen in the 10th round, and the rest of his face was so swollen that it was unbelievable to think that such damage could have been done by a light blow.
Collins’ career was cut short due to a ruptured iris and permanent impaired vision. Only a few months later, he died after driving his car into a culvert while inebriated. Some felt that the loss of his career pushed him into a downward spiral. Collins’ father has assumed that his son committed suicide since the incident.
The New York State Boxing Commission decided after a month of investigation that Resto’s coach, Panama Lewis, had removed the lining from Resto’s gloves. The commission suspended his boxing license for at least a year and he was banned from boxing in the U.S. for the duration of the ban, as most state boxing commissions respect sanctions from other states. After Collins’ death, the commission changed its guidelines so that something like this would not happen again.
Resto’s victory was later changed to a no contest.
Lewis and Resto were both charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon (Resto’s hands), and conspiracy. He was imprisoned for two and a half years. Resto publicly denied knowing Lewis tampered with the gloves for nearly a quarter-century. In 2007, he apologized to Collins’ widow, who attempted to sue the state of New York for failing to protect her late husband. Resto reportedly told her that Lewis drenched his hand wraps in plaster of Paris after removing the padding from the gloves. Resto’s punching strength was substantially increased—and illegally—as the wraps hardened into plaster casts similar to those used to set broken bones. Those hand wraps have never been found.
He revealed in a 2008 press conference that he knew Lewis had removed the padding from his gloves and that he had done it at least twice previously. He also admitted that although knowing it was improper, he did not object at the time.
The HBO documentary Assault in the Ring chronicles the 1983 assault and its aftermath. Resto appeared to validate law enforcement’s opinion that the incident was caused by significant wagers on him during this documentary.
In Closing
Taking everything into account hand wraps are an essential piece of boxing gear. They should be used by every professional boxer to avoid injuries and to reduce their opponents. Sparring and training should be done using cotton hand wraps, and competition should be done with professional gauze and tape wraps.
To avoid gaining an advantage or causing damage to the opponent, professional boxers’ hand wraps should follow the rules and regulations during competition. Illegal hand wraps are strictly forbidden since they can cause significant injuries, the end of a professional career, and, in certain cases, death. We mentioned a shocking event or fight in boxing history as the most important example of illegal hand wraps in the sport.
Although there will always be boxers and coaches who try to gain an unfair advantage through illegal ways, we can only hope that you, readers, are aware of the risks and will not do so, or allow others to do so and that if you do boxing, you will engage in a sporting spirit and with integrity, following the rules.
