Boxing may have long been deemed as a sport of yesteryear, but news has it that it’s making a comeback. In a shocking revelation, the Harris Poll 2021 showed that boxing is the fourth most popular sport in the US.
People do not just like to watch boxing; many are also taking up the combat sport as an exercise or a fun activity.
While there’s nothing stopping most people, vegans must hunt for vegan-friendly boxing supplies before making the decision. To help you in this quest, I have found some of the best vegan boxing gloves and will review them here, so you can pick the best one for yourself.
But before we get down to the list, let’s quickly discuss (for those who may not know) why boxing gloves aren’t vegan.
Why are Boxing Gloves Not Vegan?
The answer is simple.
Boxing gloves are traditionally made with leather, which, as we all know, is made from animal skin. It’s an animal product and hence, non-vegan.
The production of leather also majorly contributes to animal cruelty. In case you didn’t already know, more than a billion animals, including cows, goats, sheep, pigs, kangaroos, alligators, ostriches, and even cats and dogs, are killed every year for their skin.
Check out the following video by PETA, in case you aren’t aware of the cruelty behind leather production…
Caution: The video contains disturbing visuals
Another factor in the manufacturing of boxing gloves that concerns vegans is the process of tanning the leather. It uses a lot of chemicals, which damage the environment (they are also harmful to the workers).
What Are Vegan Boxing Gloves Made Of?
Vegan boxing gloves are made from – no brownie points for guessing – vegan leather. Now, what is vegan leather made of, you may ask?
Well, it’s mostly made from Polyurethane (PU) because it gives a similar look and feel to leather. However, as PETA highlights, it is now being made from various innovative raw materials. These include:
- Bamboo
- Banana Plant Stem
- Pineapple Leaves – the material is called Pinatex.
- Apple Peel
- Grapes – using the leftovers from wine production
- Mushrooms – the vegan leather made from mushroom caps is called MuSkin, and the one made using mushroom roots is called Mylo.
- Mulberry Tea Leaves – called MulbTex
- Teak Leaf
- Cactus
- Paper
- Wood
- Cork
- Coffee Grounds
- Recycled Plastic
Not all these materials may be used to make vegan boxing gloves, but they are used to make vegan and cruelty-free leather alternatives that various fashion brands use for vegan bags, shoes, and other accessories traditionally made from leather.
In addition to these materials, various companies are working on a few others to create more vegan leather options. These include flowers, yeast, green tea, kombucha tea, soy, and fruit waste.
6 Best Vegan Boxing Gloves
Whether you’re looking to buy your first or next pair of vegan boxing gloves, here are some of your best options:
1. Venum Challenger 3.0 (link)
Venum is a French brand that makes martial arts, combat sports, and fitness equipment, clothing, and accessories. Established in 2006, the brand is now also the official outfitting partner of the UFC. Vegan Challenger 3.0 is the most recent addition to the Challenger series.
Lightweight, high-quality, and vegan, these are training-type boxing gloves made from faux leather with a neoprene interior for improved breathability, less moisture, and better thermal regulation.
These feature a triple-layers construction and 50% higher shock absorption than their predecessor, i.e., Challenger 2.0. It’s also twice more resistant.
These Venum vegan boxing gloves feature a specialized curved anatomical design, with fully attached thumbs, reinforced palms, and a strong Velcro enclosure to provide a perfect fit and safe striking. It also has an elongated wrist cuff with extra padding that offers more wrist protection and higher stability.
Available in five colors and sizes, these vegan boxing gloves weigh just two pounds and can be used by both male and female boxers (unisex).
2. Sanabul Essential Gel Boxing Gloves (link)
Number 1 best seller on Amazon in the Boxing Bag Gloves category with close to 16,000 ratings, Sanabul Essential Gel is one of your best vegan leather glove options for boxing. Here’s why:
Sanabul Essential Gel boxing gloves are professional quality gear at (as described by the brand itself) entry-level affordability. Their gel-infused construction offers high-impact protection, whereas the strong hook and loop closure keeps your wrists safe and secure.
Their longitudinal arch design guarantees utmost comfort, and meshed palms ensure high breathability and keep your hands dry.
All in all, Sanabul Essential Gel boxing gloves provide the best support and comfort you need to get through long training sessions and the toughest rounds while delivering the best performances. They are also vegan – made of engineered leather – so you won’t feel guilty playing your favorite sport.
These Sanabul vegan boxing gloves come in five sizes – ranging from 8oz to 16oz – and eight colors at a highly affordable price.
With all these incredible features, it’s no wonder these gloves are a popular choice for both beginners and professional fighters.
3. Ringside Apex Flash Sparring Gloves (link)
Made using advanced Injected Molded Foam (IMF) technology, these are one of the best vegan gloves you can find for your sparring sessions. Well-padded as they should be with 2 ¼” injected molded foam, these offer high shock absorption.
The Ringside Apex Flash Sparring Gloves are made with synthetic (vinyl) leather and feature attached thumbs and full wraparound adjustable hook and loop closures to provide maximum safety and security to both the fighters in the game.
The meshed palms help ensure breathability and prevent excessive sweating, keeping your hands dry, cool, and comfortable while you perfect your techniques in long training sessions. The antibacterial inner lining will help maintain hygiene.
Available in two sizes – 14oz and 16oz – and in eight beautiful colors, these unisex vegan boxing gloves come with a 120-day manufacturer warranty. What more do you want?
If you aren’t on a strict budget and do not shy away from spending a little more on boxing gloves in return for high quality, these Ringside vegan gloves make a great choice.
4. Everlast Pro Style Training Gloves (link)
As the name says, these are vegan training gloves for boxers. Made with premium quality faux leather, these make a great cruelty-free alternative to traditional boxing gloves made with animal skin.
Turns out, I am not the only person to think so. Thousands of others believe the same. That is why Everlast Pro Style Training Gloves are the #1 best seller on Amazon in the Boxing Training Gloves category.
Wondering what makes people like these so much? Here are the key features of these vegan training boxing gloves:
Along with high-quality vegan-friendly material and impeccable construction guaranteeing durability, the gloves feature a patented Thumb-Lok feature that offers extra support to your thumbs, preventing them from breaking.
They also provide a natural curvature that makes them fit easily on most hands, ensuring an anatomical fit and enhanced grip.
Like all other gloves on our list, these also feature a mesh lining on the palms, but what makes these different from the rest is the specialized treatment these are given to prevent odors and keep your gloves smelling fresh all the time.
Weighing just a little over a pound, these come in five standard sizes and three color options with a 120-days manufacturer warranty.
5. Trideer Pro Grade Boxing Gloves (link)
Looking for boxing gloves that are vegan, comfortable, offer a perfect fit, are durable, and do not cost you an arm and a leg?
Get yourself a pair of Trideer Pro Grade boxing gloves!
Checking off all the boxes for good quality boxing gloves for vegans, these will make a great addition to your gear bag.
Trideer Pro Grade boxing gloves are made with PU leather that is moisture-resistant and can withstand a good amount of wear and tear, ensuring long-term use and good value for money.
The vegan boxing gloves also feature an anatomical design that offers a superior fit, cotton and silken lining that helps improve the grip, meshed palms for improved breathability and no sweating, and a multi-density foam for high shock absorption and impact resistance.
The wraparound wrist strap with hook and loop closure provides a better fit and makes it easier to put on and off.
Trideer Pro Grade is ergonomically designed to provide users with the perfect combination of comfort, protection, and great fit, all the factors that are essential for better performance.
The gloves have a pre-curved finger section designed in accordance with the natural contours of our fingers and are known to help reduce fatigue. Give these vegan-friendly boxing gloves a try to see how true the claim is.
6. Hayabusa T3 Boxing Gloves (link)
If you don’t mind splurging on boxing gloves in return for the best of the best quality, you should get Hayabusa T3 unisex vegan boxing gloves.
Ranking high on every feature, from quality and durability to fit, comfort, and protection, these are made with vylar-engineered leather (manufactured by the brand itself) using an advanced patented technology backed by a decade of research.
Third, in Hayabusa’s popular Tokushu gear range, these gloves stand out from the crowd for several factors. Starting with visuals, these are made with five (vegan) leather panels in different textures instead of one (as in most gloves).
This not just makes it look more luxe and customized but also reflects its supreme inner construction.
The thumbs feature a microfiber suede covering extending halfway onto the back of the gloves. This may not seem like an extraordinary feature to beginners.
But those who have been playing boxing for any length of time would know that this comes in handy when you have to wipe off sweat from your face in the middle of the game.
The fabric used for these gloves contains antibacterial properties, ensuring hygiene and keeping your gloves fresh for longer. The foaming it features is also known to provide maximum knuckle protection.
The vegan leather boxing gloves come with multiple tiny perforations on the palm for ventilation and a dual wrist strap that, along with splints that go down to the back of the hand, provide improved fit, enhanced wrist support, more stability, and better grip.
These aren’t just (one of) the best-looking boxing gloves out there, they also come in the greatest variety of colors. Unlike any other gloves on our list, these come in 15 different colors, giving you a huge variety of options to choose from. Above all, they are vegan.
Are Sanabul Cactus Leather Boxing Gloves Still Available?
It doesn’t seem so. The gloves are sold out on Sanabul’s official website, and I couldn’t find them on amazon, either.
For those who may know, Sanabul, a popular vegan sports gear manufacturing company, created the world’s first boxing gloves with cactus leather in collaboration with Desserto – a Mexican company that created vegan leather from cactus (the prickly pear variety) – in 2000.
In addition to being vegan, Sanabul boxing gloves were sustainable and partially biodegradable but were only available for a limited time.
And the time has run out, it seems.
Conclusion
Whether you’re planning to take up boxing for fun, a fitness enthusiast looking to incorporate it into your daily workout, or a professional athlete, playing your favorite sport shouldn’t make you compromise your lifestyle ideology or vice versa.
The boxing gloves that I have shortlisted in this article won’t put you in that difficult spot where you have to choose between your ethical commitment and passion for the combat sport. They are all free of animal ingredients, cruelty-free, and ethically manufactured, making them perfect for vegan boxers.
Choose any of them according to your needs, style preferences, and budget, and enjoy your favorite sport guilt-free.
Did you find this article helpful? Interested to know vegan options for other wearables? Check out my article Best Vegan Combat Boots to choose the most comfortable, stylish, animal-free, and cruelty-free boots.
