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“Woman is a most charming creature, who changes her heart as easily as she does her gloves.” Surely, Honoré de Balzac was talking about the supremely high-quality boxing gloves from Portland’s Society Nine. Will you choose a design in classy white and gold, regal black and gold, or rock-star dark violet?
The company, named for Title IX—the 1972 federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any federally funded education program—sells all manner of boxing equipment for women. Founder Lynn Le treats both boxing hotshots and those new to the sport with the same philosophy: “The thrill is in the journey of learning and discovering how truly capable you are of handling pressure and how well you can focus,” she says.
Like any sporting equipment, a pair of boxing gloves is personal. “It should feel like you can make a grip and close your fist very easily inside of it, and with wrapped hands, the gloves should feel like they ride along your knuckles,” Le says. “You can’t strike well, and strike safely, without being able to make a great grip inside your gloves.”