This is a long overdue review I promised ironwolf when he sent me these gloves(thanks again!). The load of finals came out of nowhere, but now I've finally put some time in to review these gloves! I will still update this thread because I haven't put in enough sparring time as I'd like to really comment on firsthand sparring. Anyways here we go!
Appearance
When I first stumbled upon the Sherdog forums back in 2012 everyone talked about Boon gloves, and when everyone talked about Boon gloves they talked about their brown leather. I myself tend to stick with black or blue, but I first came across the Boon brown when a buddy of mine showed me his focus mitts and belly pads and it was love at first sight. These gloves are absolutely no different. The leather is amazing on this.
My only other leather gloves are my 12oz KO Fightgear and I really don't want to use the word "cheap", but the stitching of the Boon is significantly tighter while on my KO's I can sort of "pinch" the leather like if I were pinching an inflated balloon.
These are not a new pair and there is some noticeable wear at the wrist part right above the white Boon label and a hint of white powder in the grooves of the thumb & index portion on one glove. Since this is a used pair the black palm portion of the glove is where the leather truly blows me away given it doesn't see as much trauma. I mean just wow. The stitching is tight and no signs of loose threads anywhere. This is just a magnificent glove!
Putting Them On
I live in a small town in the Philippines so I don't get the luxury of having someone to tie my gloves for me a lot since I'm usually the only dude training at the time-slot usually go. I have another pair of 16oz lace-ups which are the R2C Deluxe MiM synthetic in white which seem to always be in the clearance section.
Like ironwolf has stated about these gloves before, the weight is noticeable off. To me the front padding isn't as "poofy" so given the fact they are underweight I do feel reluctant to spar with them vs. my R2C pair. Just poking the front padding you can tell the R2C's are more forgiving.
Performance
I'm relatively new to the whole lace-up gloves scene mainly because it's a hassle to find people to lace them up for me, but when they are on these Boons feel insanely secure. I have a $20 Everlast 16oz velcro pair I got from Walmart ages ago and have used that a lot before I found this site, but still use time to time. I thought it was just the way it was supposed to feel when my thumbs would feel unbearably painful after a good 30min bag or pad session, but boy was I wrong. With the Boon's I don't feel any thumb pain, but when I use 180' instead of my usual 120' my fingers tend to go numb. Though I blame that on my poor handwrapping skills.
The wrist support is great. The cuff is identical in length to my R2C pair, but feels tighter around my wrist in a good way. On the bag I can throw some GGG-like bombs and for the most part feel secure about my wrist. My knuckles and hands are just fine. Then again I went 2 years straight with $20 Everlasts so I'm not sure if I'm just accustomed to feeling hits on my knuckles because I do read a lot of comments on these gloves about "bottoming out" on the bag. I will say this though. My wrists do a thing where it has a small pop and starts to really hurt until I pop it back which I usually do by pushing my palm against the back of my hand of the hurt wrist until it goes back. The wrist support isn't tight enough to prevent that popping, but is too tight vs. my other gloves to pop my wrist back.
Going a couple rounds on the bag the weight does become noticeable especially when it comes to my fatigue and burn in my shoulders vs. a true 16oz glove. Does the weight make me not want to spar in them? Not really. The padding still seems sufficient and a heck of a lot thicker than my Everlasts. My Everlasts are so horrible the padding on my 12oz KO's seemed safer for me to use.
The next time I find myself back in the good ol' US of A I'll probably invest in some velcro converters because given the fact the padding is less "poofy" and rounded than my R2C gloves, hitting the bag feels more gratifying to me. Plus I never have anyone to lace me up! I'm still quite the novice so the thick and almost protuberant padding gives me a paranoia that a wrongfully placed hit will make my punch slide off and making my wrist do something I don't want it to. I don't have this though hanging int he back of my head when I'm using the Boon's on the bag.
For those who complain about their hands getting hot I really can't make a good review on this aspect because where I train it's kind of an outdoors spot with screened windows and such and I live in the Philippines so it's always humid and hot.
Price
Complimentary by the way of the ever gracious ironwolf
Weight
I haven't actually weighed them officially, put switching pairs between the Boon's and the R2C I feel a noticeable difference.
Overall
These gloves were free so it's hard for me to really complain about anything, but I do know these reviews are read to influence other Sherdoggers on how they should spend their hard earned money so I'll try to be as objective as I can. With the wrist support, craftsmanship, and feel to it, these are easily the best gloves I own.
This pair in particular is underweight so I'd probably feel more comfortable using a true 16oz to spar in (forgot to add I'm 5'11 and 215lbs.) Hitting the bag feels fantastic. The sense of security makes me want to push myself harder than with my other gloves. Given the fact I live in such a small place with a not so active MMA/Muay Thai/Boxing crowd it become a pain to coordinate with people to train with so I have someone to lace me up. Other than that these gloves are magnificent. As far as the wrist support I'm on the fence given my personal situation, but for all you health folk it is spectacular.
Score
90% / A
For those that do not like to read (
Appearance
When I first stumbled upon the Sherdog forums back in 2012 everyone talked about Boon gloves, and when everyone talked about Boon gloves they talked about their brown leather. I myself tend to stick with black or blue, but I first came across the Boon brown when a buddy of mine showed me his focus mitts and belly pads and it was love at first sight. These gloves are absolutely no different. The leather is amazing on this.
My only other leather gloves are my 12oz KO Fightgear and I really don't want to use the word "cheap", but the stitching of the Boon is significantly tighter while on my KO's I can sort of "pinch" the leather like if I were pinching an inflated balloon.
These are not a new pair and there is some noticeable wear at the wrist part right above the white Boon label and a hint of white powder in the grooves of the thumb & index portion on one glove. Since this is a used pair the black palm portion of the glove is where the leather truly blows me away given it doesn't see as much trauma. I mean just wow. The stitching is tight and no signs of loose threads anywhere. This is just a magnificent glove!
Putting Them On
I live in a small town in the Philippines so I don't get the luxury of having someone to tie my gloves for me a lot since I'm usually the only dude training at the time-slot usually go. I have another pair of 16oz lace-ups which are the R2C Deluxe MiM synthetic in white which seem to always be in the clearance section.
Like ironwolf has stated about these gloves before, the weight is noticeable off. To me the front padding isn't as "poofy" so given the fact they are underweight I do feel reluctant to spar with them vs. my R2C pair. Just poking the front padding you can tell the R2C's are more forgiving.
Performance
I'm relatively new to the whole lace-up gloves scene mainly because it's a hassle to find people to lace them up for me, but when they are on these Boons feel insanely secure. I have a $20 Everlast 16oz velcro pair I got from Walmart ages ago and have used that a lot before I found this site, but still use time to time. I thought it was just the way it was supposed to feel when my thumbs would feel unbearably painful after a good 30min bag or pad session, but boy was I wrong. With the Boon's I don't feel any thumb pain, but when I use 180' instead of my usual 120' my fingers tend to go numb. Though I blame that on my poor handwrapping skills.
The wrist support is great. The cuff is identical in length to my R2C pair, but feels tighter around my wrist in a good way. On the bag I can throw some GGG-like bombs and for the most part feel secure about my wrist. My knuckles and hands are just fine. Then again I went 2 years straight with $20 Everlasts so I'm not sure if I'm just accustomed to feeling hits on my knuckles because I do read a lot of comments on these gloves about "bottoming out" on the bag. I will say this though. My wrists do a thing where it has a small pop and starts to really hurt until I pop it back which I usually do by pushing my palm against the back of my hand of the hurt wrist until it goes back. The wrist support isn't tight enough to prevent that popping, but is too tight vs. my other gloves to pop my wrist back.
Going a couple rounds on the bag the weight does become noticeable especially when it comes to my fatigue and burn in my shoulders vs. a true 16oz glove. Does the weight make me not want to spar in them? Not really. The padding still seems sufficient and a heck of a lot thicker than my Everlasts. My Everlasts are so horrible the padding on my 12oz KO's seemed safer for me to use.
The next time I find myself back in the good ol' US of A I'll probably invest in some velcro converters because given the fact the padding is less "poofy" and rounded than my R2C gloves, hitting the bag feels more gratifying to me. Plus I never have anyone to lace me up! I'm still quite the novice so the thick and almost protuberant padding gives me a paranoia that a wrongfully placed hit will make my punch slide off and making my wrist do something I don't want it to. I don't have this though hanging int he back of my head when I'm using the Boon's on the bag.
For those who complain about their hands getting hot I really can't make a good review on this aspect because where I train it's kind of an outdoors spot with screened windows and such and I live in the Philippines so it's always humid and hot.
Price
Complimentary by the way of the ever gracious ironwolf
Weight
I haven't actually weighed them officially, put switching pairs between the Boon's and the R2C I feel a noticeable difference.
Overall
These gloves were free so it's hard for me to really complain about anything, but I do know these reviews are read to influence other Sherdoggers on how they should spend their hard earned money so I'll try to be as objective as I can. With the wrist support, craftsmanship, and feel to it, these are easily the best gloves I own.
This pair in particular is underweight so I'd probably feel more comfortable using a true 16oz to spar in (forgot to add I'm 5'11 and 215lbs.) Hitting the bag feels fantastic. The sense of security makes me want to push myself harder than with my other gloves. Given the fact I live in such a small place with a not so active MMA/Muay Thai/Boxing crowd it become a pain to coordinate with people to train with so I have someone to lace me up. Other than that these gloves are magnificent. As far as the wrist support I'm on the fence given my personal situation, but for all you health folk it is spectacular.
Score
90% / A
For those that do not like to read (
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