Boxer Clothing and Gear Round-Up

Something that Uatu and I have discussed before is how savvy MMA fighters are at marketing themselves via sponsorships, especially with clothing companies. Boxers tend to lag behind in that respect, and only recently has the concept of the walk-in shirt begun to replace the robe during some fighters' walks to the ring.

As a fan, sometimes I'd just like to show support for some of my favorite fighters, and it gets a little frustrating when there's a lack of t-shirts and the like. You can sometimes find fan-created shirts and knock-offs, but I prefer to buy the official stuff whenever possible as a matter of principle.

For the benefit of anyone who's ever felt the same way, I figured I'd compile as much info from the mighty internets as possible to help point the way to the official boxer clothing and gear that is for sale out there. There's no way this is going to be an exhaustive list, so leave a comment or an email if you know of a company or boxer I've missed.

I'll start with some clothing companies that are actively supporting boxing:

Affliction: If you like your clothes with scary skulls on them, this is the brand for you. Affliction has had a large presence in MMA and boxing for a while and has made signature shirts for Kelly Pavlik, Bernard Hopkins, Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito and Jorge Arce(!), as well as an event shirt for the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight.

The company also has a deal with Golden Boy Promotions, which has already yielded a De La Hoya shirt and a line of shirts for The Ring magazine.

Ecko: Designer Marc Ecko and his company have crafted a limited edition clothing line for Miguel Cotto. Though it primarily consists of t-shirts, the line also included a pretty sweet matching track jacket and mesh pants at one point.

Red Corner Apparel: This shirt-making company was riding high with its Margarito shirts after he defeated Cotto, but it doesn't seem to be in business with the Tijuana Tornado any more. It does have several different Carl Froch shirts for sale, signing The Cobra right before he defeated Jermain Taylor.

Pound 4 Pound Apparel: These guys are positioning themselves to market the next wave of boxing talent, inking deals with Andre Ward, Daniel Jacobs and Ronald Hearns earlier this year. Ward wore his signature shirt to the ring for his most recent fight.

Some boxers prefer to handle merchandise sales through their own official websites instead:

Ricky Hatton: There's only one... well, you know the rest. Get yourself a Hatton shirt or one of those bucket hats the Hitman likes so much.

Shane Mosley: Along with men's and women's clothing, Sugar Shane has items like official mugs and mousepads. His stuff comes via Zazzle, where you can also find BoxingWatchers shirts!

Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Floyd's gear can be found on the official site of his record label, Philthy Rich Records, which is better at putting out tees and hoodies than, you know, actual records. Money is seen on a lot of the shirts, naturally.

Andre Berto: Berto's site says a line of clothing is coming soon. Of course, Antonio Tarver's site has been saying that for a while now...

David Haye: You could get Hayemaker t-shirts until pretty recently, but the online store now says it is closed for routine maintenance. Kind of like Haye himself, I guess.

Troy Ross: Best known (to me anyway) as the winner of the most recent season of The Contender, Ross also fancies himself a bit of a fashion designer. Rosswear, coming soon to a catwalk near you!

What about Manny?

I know what you're thinking: surely the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world must have some official apparel, right?

He does. I think. It might be made by these guys, who are responsible for the shirts and hats worn by many fans at Pac-Man's recent fights.

But does Manny get a cut of the sales? Got me.

Nike also has a deal with Manny, but his earlier shirts were available only in the Philippines (unless you found a seller you trusted on eBay!), and more recent items, like the shirt sold when Pacquiao threw out the first pitch at a Giants game before the Hatton fight, were produced in very limited quantities.

Posted by The Franchise