Is Bareknuckle Boxing Safer Than Gloved Boxing IN a 2007 article in the The Independant (UK), sports historian Nicholas Hobbes explains that gloves were introduced to make competitions bloodier and briefer. Gloves distribute a blow, but they also add weight to a punch, making it more destructive: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=110126765