Below the Belt | Sparring in Y-3 Boxing Boots

Boxing low-tops from Y-3, Addidas

There’s little in the boxing world that isn’t exploited for maximum impact — babbles, tassels and bedazzles have all made their appearance on the fingers and feet of fleet-footed pugilists. Jack Dempsey, the gentleman boxer and heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926, was, to put it into our terms, a fashion-forward tastemaker. In our era, Paulie Malignaggi, Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Rickie “The Hitman” Hatton have paraded down the aisle in Technicolor robes. Boxing has always found a way of muscling itself into fashion.



Several designers have been inspired by boxing boots before, as in the case of Alexander McQueen, who recently collaborated with Puma. But those shoes, beautiful and braided though they were, had soles too fragile for the ring and were only for ladies. They were made for pugilistically inspired fashionistas, not fashion-inspired pugilists. This season, however, Y-3, the collaborative line between Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas, released a low-top boxing boot, which I decided to put to the test at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. The shoes come in three versions — white, black, and striped black, white and blue — and all have a sturdy leather upper. I chose the stripes since the color scheme mimics the national flag of Nicaragua, home of Alexis “El Flaco Explosivo” Arguello, my favorite boxer.


Gleason’s is a loud second-floor gym in Dumbo with scuffed red walls, three boxing rings and a crowd of vocal critics. They take boxing, and their gear, seriously. Many boxers sport the stylish all-black Air Jordans high-tops or Everlast’s high-tech Hydrolast Lockdown boot, made with a Michelin tire sole. Unsure of the reception my fancy new shoes would receive, I stepped out of the locker room expecting the worst. 


Nevertheless, my Y-3’s made an impression. A heavyweight named Earl came over and pointed at them — appreciatively, it turned out. I’ve been using them since.


Happily, though the shoes have Yohji’s design touches, they also seem to have benefited from Adidas’s athletic rigor. The sole is flat, well glued and has a gentle tread. They are light and thinner than an average sneaker or, for that matter, a boxing shoe — and that’s important since ounces quickly turn to pounds when you’re being punched in the face. And, after a dozen workouts and a hundred rounds, they show few signs of structural wear. The black, white and blue leather body may be scuffed and scratched, but the shoes, like true champions, have endured.

Below the Belt | Sparring in Y-3 Boxing Boots