What are some ways you guys think can preserve a boxers hands?

Spend at least some time punching the heavy bag bare fisted. Learning to hit without wraps and gloves on helps a lot.

 

Properly wrapped hands are a big part of it. Guys who are good at it in the pro ranks want to get paid (same as cut men) and some fighters aren’t willing to part with the money to bring in a Russ Anber (he’s one of the best, his track record with guys not getting their hands hurt is very good) as part of camp just for hand wrapping … but it’s worth it.

 

Hit things properly, Wrap your hands properly. Aim for the soft spots? I don’t know the validity, supposedly a strong grip helps, fingers and wrist strength too, knuckle conditioning maybe. Just throwing it out there.

If you had to hit all those things I don’t know, maybe use wrist curls, reverse ones too. Finger and knuckle push ups. Throw in some farmers walks for distance, use fat grips on all your equipment for passive grip training (Lat pull down, rows, chins, etc) that’s all pretty easy to add in and straight forward and uncomplicated.

One Kostya Tszyu liked to do was take a 16kg I believe Kettlebell and carry it around the gym with him all day. Test of mental strength was really the goal, but if you think of squeezing a weight you’re strengthening a similar position to a fist. It couldn’t hurt to try.

“Tszyu simply has to hold onto it . . . for 60 unbroken minutes. He can swap the weight from hand to hand or plonk it on either shoulder, but he can’t let go of it until the hour is up. For the last 15 minutes his arms and shoulders are marshmallow. But it’s not really a physical exercise, Tszyu explains: “It’s more to do with mental strength”

This is Tim talking about it. He also comments that his farther said “Gym is mind” I know Kostya did it I can’t find the interview at this present moment.

 

To train your grip strength. Strength training for the grip/hand will strengthen bones as well as the muscles.

 

Skipping/running. Any form of jumping, hopping sort of movement builds bone density in the body overall too.

 

Buying good quality equipment and properly maintaining your equipment makes a big difference. Good quality bags that are filled nice and even also makes bags more forgiving on your hands. For this reason I recommend never buying prefilled heavybags.

From my own experience good quality leather bags give a lot more than vinyl bags, which can also make a difference.

 

Formaldehyde.

 

What kinda fees do they charge then?

 

Boxing imo is a martial art not just a sport. Fighters should condition their hands perhaps not to the extrmem as some do in some martial arts, but over reliance on wraps and gloves as a whole can cost you.

 

Floyd paid the man that wrapped his hands $100k/year to be available to wrap his hands. He was an elderly Mexican gentleman and he died a few years back.
A friend of mine has a reputation for being skilled at wrapping hands and would work local shows. He would charge $20 to wrap a fighter's hands and make a couple hundred in a night.
Like most things in boxing it is a specific skill that you develop over time. And, like everything in boxing, everyone that gets good at wrapping hands thinks that everyone else is full of ****.
Manny Robles has an excellent video on wrapping hands.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I am functional when it comes to wrapping hands- there are many guys that approach it as an art form. There isn't much need to cheat because, within the rules, a skilled guy can turn a fist into a brick with gauze and tape.
In this video Manny Robles demonstrates the difference in the rules of wrapping hands in California and Texas.

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Wearing hand wraps is the first and most important step in protecting your hands when boxing, kickboxing, MMA, or other martial art