Padding Type

Boxing gloves nowadays are filled with either foam, gel, horsehair or even a special blend of foam/horsehair. Training gloves use foam (or sometimes gel), pro fight gloves use horsehair or blend. Each come with their advantages and disadvantages. Just know that foam is the standard and even within that distinction, there are many different types of foam out there.

Horsehair was the standard type of padding used several decades ago. Nowadays, it's only used in professional fighting gloves because it transfers the most power. It's the least protective padding out there and breaks down quickly, making it impractical for everyday training. Some brands use a combination of horsehair and foam to make their pro gloves more protective.

Foam, specifically latex foam, is the standard type of padding for 99.99% of the boxing gloves made today. There are different kinds of foam used and the way it's cut and layered inside your glove greatly affects your glove's performance and durability. Good foam feels great and last a long time. Bad foam hurts your hands and goes flat or falls apart quickly.

Gel padding is the same type of "gel" that you see in shoe inserts or computer wrist support pads. I personally don't like it at all and think it's a crime that it's being sold as this supportive long-lasting "new padding technology". The gel maintains the glove shape/padding for longer but feels un-supportive when you punch with it.

I think the problem is that gel doesn't compress when you put pressure on it. It simply wiggles around and doesn't secure your fist upon impact. When I punch with a foam-padded glove, it feels like the foam compresses in place, solidifying my punch into one place giving better support and power transfer during impact. When I punch with a gel-padded glove, it feels like the gel wiggles or squeezes around during impact, causing my fist to move slightly and de-stabilize (WHICH ACTUALLY HURTS MY WRIST). If you want another visual: imagine you had a wall covered with foam and another wall covered with gel. If you hit the foam wall, your hand hits one place solidly. If you punch the gel wall, your hand wiggles during impact and causes wrist pain. I'm not 100% sure this is what's going on but it's my best scientific guess.