No problem, concern or investigation surrounding gloves worn by Fabio Wardley

There was no objection from Frazer Clarke or his team about the gloves worn by Fabio Wardley prior to the latter winning their rematch, nor did the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) investigate said gloves after the brutal first round knockout in Saudi Arabia on October 12. 

The heavyweights had fought to a rousing 12-round draw in March so competitive and evenly fought that the quick and violent finish in the sequel, punctuated by a visible fracture to Clarke’s jaw, came as a surprise to almost everyone.

It emerged last week that the loser’s promoter, Ben Shalom, was calling for an investigation following unsubstantiated claims that the padding in the winner’s gloves fell below the legislated level. Shalom suggested a doctor had voiced their displeasure about Wardley’s gloves but the BBBoC’s Chief Medical Officer, Neil Scott, confirmed to BoxingScene he neither expressed that concern nor heard anyone else doing so.

In a video seen by BoxingScene, which was recorded on the eve of the rematch and after the gloves were approved by all parties, Clarke observed that Wardley’s gloves were “very thin” but he was not “too fussed”.

Initially talking about his own choice of gloves before comparing them to those to be worn by his opponent, Clarke said: “It’s what I’m used to; I wear Everlast, felt good in them, they protect my hands. Then obviously I felt my opponent’s gloves and nothing really. For me, gloves are gloves, people are different. 

“If this hits you in the face in them [Everlast] gloves it’s going to hurt one way or another,” Clarke said while cocking his fist. “So, I’m not too fussed when it comes to those things. It’s a fight, they could put me in anything, and I’ll be alright.”

“I touched my glove and I touched his, he was touching mine, and I said, ‘Mine are pillows compared [to his gloves].’ His gloves are very, very thin, let’s say, and unpadded but he’s got to land them on me.”

That one set of gloves can feel ‘thinner’ than another might appear a cause for concern. Not so according to the BBBoC’s Dennis Gilmartin, who has tightened the rules to ensure that all gloves used on BBBoC-regulated events meet strict standards. Those procedures have since been adopted by the European Boxing Union [EBU]. 

The design of all gloves worn in fights commissioned by BBBoC must be vetted long before they’re used in a fight. “Gloves are checked extensively before they’re approved. It’s a laborious process and it doesn’t happen quickly,” he told BoxingScene before going on to explain that each glove will be weighed (by the gram) to ensure it doesn’t weigh less than the legislated weight before the glove is dissected to ensure that alien materials are not used. They’re then extensively trialled by licensed boxers in licensed gyms. In short, it is perfectly normal for certain gloves to feel different to others; some will have more man-made padding than those with a higher concentration of horse hair, for example. 

“First and foremost, they have to weigh a minimum amount,” Gilmartin said. “So the weights are all the same but if certain gloves are heavily loaded around the back of the hand and the wrist [and therefore have less padding around the knuckles] we won’t approve them. But, yes, there are gloves that are known as ‘puncher’s’ gloves, there are gloves that will have extra padding to protect those who suffer with hand injuries. No two pairs are going to be exactly the same.”

Gilmartin went on to explain that the Everlast gloves worn by Clarke are mass produced compared to the Fly gloves worn by Wardley (in both fights), which are handmade to the specific dimensions of a fighter’s hands. Naturally, they will feel different. 

All approved gloves are listed on the BBBoC website. “We have removed certain gloves over the years [from the approved list],” Gilmartin said. He stressed that in such cases the issue with those gloves was identified by the BBBoC and never because a boxer or trainer had objected to them. “Injury is not caused by a glove,” he said, “but by the person wearing the glove… We have seen similar injuries caused, and it’s not just heavyweights, it’s in the lower weights too. There is no pattern in the make of the gloves – the pattern is with the accuracy and weight of the punches.”

The gloves are inspected before the fight to ensure they’re consistent with the approved design. All parties will check gloves to ensure everyone is happy to proceed. On this occasion, the inspector overseeing the process and checking the gloves alongside the boxers and their teams was the head of the BBBoC, Robert Smith.

“Nothing wrong with the gloves, I did the gloves meeting,” Smith told BoxingScene via text message on Wednesday. “There was no objection to the gloves [before the fight].”