Two of the hardest punchers in the lower weight classes will apparently don appropriate gloves for their upcoming rematch.

Nonito Donaire and Naoya Inoue will presumably wear their preferred gloves for their 118-pound title unification bout, a repeat of their 2019 encounter, Tuesday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

The first meeting, which Inoue won on points, saw both fighters wear gloves made by Winning, the well-known Japanese brand known for producing gloves that offer comfort and protection to a fighters’ hands. Conversely, there is a perception among those in the sport, however, that Winning gloves are not ideal for heavy-handed fighters.

According to Donaire, a four-division titlist of Filipino descent who lives out of Las Vegas, he was not able to wear his usual Everlast gloves for that fight because of a delivery mishap. Donaire, known for his devastating left hook, believes his usual Everlast gloves are ideally suited for delivering his power punches. Donaire said in a recent interview that the rematch on Tuesday will see both fighters wear gloves that theoretically will maximize their vaunted punching prowess.

“We’re both getting in there with different gloves,” Donaire said on The DAZN Boxing Show. “We’re both getting in there with the puncher's gloves this time. In the last fight I had fought with Winning [gloves]. The Everlasts, the one I always use, they didn’t arrive I guess in the packaging, in the delivery it got messed up. And so I wasn’t able to use the pair that I brought into Japan, so I had to use his secondary gloves.”

“They were both the same,” Inoue continued. We both wore the same Winning gloves. I had his secondary gloves and he had his own Winning gloves as well. As we know, Winning is a very protective kind of glove.”

Donaire believes Inoue, 29, will wear Cleto Reyes, a Mexican glove manufacturing company that has long been the favorite of presumed punchers in boxing. Indeed, Cleto Reyes-made gloves are often referred to affectionately within the industry as “a puncher’s gloves.” Manny Pacquiao, for example, famously favored Cleto Reyes gloves.

Donaire, 39, will presumably be wearing his usual Everlast gloves.

“This time we are both coming in with punchers’ gloves,” Donaire said. “I think he’s coming in with the Reyes, and I’m coming in with the same gloves that I’ve always used in my fights.”