Sabas 14oz Lace and 16oz Velcro Gloves Review

Just like the Powerlocks, I purchased these Sabas mainly because I saw the interest others had in them. After looking through all of Sabas' gloves, I decided the black and silver lace ups were for me. Sadly I waited too long and they sold out. I dont own many, actually at all, blue gloves and i love silver so the blue and silver gloves were just howling my name.


Look

As I said the main reason I got these were to test and review them for my fellow Sherdoggers. The look of many of them caught my attention instantly though. Every glove Ive seen from Sabas have incredible color combinations. For example, some of their newest gloves are black and purple, i'm not a fan of purple but the thought of picking those up has crossed my mind several times. They also have these dark red with white piping gloves, absolutely beautiful. They'll probably be my next buy. The only other stock gloves were I've wanted to own almost every color have been the C17s and Winnings. Every other glove i've usually only liked one, sometimes two stock colors. Sabas on the other hand, i want 90% of their gloves, excellent color combinations and a wide selection.

As for my blue and silvers. I liked the look on the Sabas website. I didnt truly appreciate it until I got them in the mail though. I actually found myself trying them on several times throughout the next couple days. They just looked incredible. The blue is very nice lighter than my Winning blue but still looking great especially with the contrast of silver. The silver is dull, its not very shiny but it looks amazing. I was told that Sabas used this dull silver because it was more durable than the shiny silver, excellent choice in my opinion.

The overall look is very compact and reminiscent of Grant. Now Ive never used grants those things are too overpriced but i can assure you these arent clones, these arent replicas, these arent what the C17s are to Winnings. They do have that look and style though from the compact nature to the split thumb, to even the angled knuckles. Some of the color combinations are even extremely similar to Grants as well. These gloves remind me of the TU Death Adders, similar to Grants yet they have their own style. My black, red, and white Velcro gloves look extremely similar to Grants due to the color combination.

These truly are just beautiful gloves. When it comes to looks they are probably my second or third best looking stock gloves behind Winnings and maybe the C17s. Ive never put on a glove so many times before. I got these around the same time as the Powerlocks and I was more excited about these than them. I actually had to force myself to use the Powerlocks first because I wanted to post that review before this one.


Quality/Construction/Padding

Quality and construction, my first gloves the straight cuffs had a couple issues. For example there was one spot with popped stitching, there are other areas with loose ends, my padding also has various bumps, theres also an issue with the weight. Besides that though the gloves are holding up just fine. I was scared these issues were the, "norm," with Sabas but customer service assured me they weren't. To test that out i ordered the Velcro gloves and they were excellent quality. In some aspects they're even better quality than my C17s.

The stitching, the leather, the padding, all is high quality. The overall construction of my velcros is amazing and while the Lace ups did have issues they never hurt the performance.

Both gloves use the same layered padding. My lace ups were more soft and easier to break in. That being said though the Velcros were broken in very easily as well, by hand even. They were more firm though but that's probably due to the more padding used as they are 16oz as opposed to my 14oz lace ups.

The padding is very protective, not equal to Winning but they hold their own against the C17s. Ive punched through C17s before, i havent punched through either Sabas. That being said though the gloves are viewed as punchers gloves by Sabas. I sort of agree with that, they definitely have more feedback than Winning or the C17s but they're also protective and you definitely won't end up with sore knuckles. They are a good mix of Reyes and Winnings, half protection, half feedback. Overall this is my second favorite padding after Winnings.

The only issue i have with padding is the palm side padding. They used a very, "puffy," foam for the palm side. Because of this the wrist compartment is small. An example is that for every glove I use I wrap my knuckles with one gauze-like Le Roy wrap and then i use a regular, "cloth," hand wrap like R2C, Sabas, Ringside, etc, for my wrist. I can't do that with the Sabas though, I have to use two Le Roy wraps or else the glove is too tight and the wrist opens up too much.


Liner/Ventilation/Comfort

The liner of the glove is fine, its not one of my favorites but its fine and does its job. For whatever reason though the gloves have two different types of liners. The top of the wrist, the back hand and fist use one type of liner while the palm side liner is something more similar to the liner used in the Everlast Powerlocks. Overall both are comfortable but if the palm side liner could be used as the one and only liner i think it would feel better that way.

Ventilation wise these gloves have vent holes on the thumb but none on the palm. I wish some were included on the palm as well but it's better than nothing. Either way these gloves dont heat up like crazy.

Overall the gloves are very comfortable especially after breaking them in. The hand compartment is on the smaller side, similar in size to the 12oz C17s. The C17s might actually be a little wider though especially in the wrist, the wrist size is significantly better. The hand compartment though is very similar to the 12oz C17s, both the 14oz and 16oz Sabas. If you have very big hands, specifically very wide hands you might want to think twice about Sabas. My hands are very small. 12oz C17s or 14oz Winnings are ideal for me and they're both considered small. The wrist compartment is extremely small, like I mentioned I had to change my wrapping method just so the wrist wouldnt open up too much. That being said though this was my experience, I prefer bigger hand compartments, there are people with much bigger hands than me who use Sabas and enjoy them.

Sabas also uses a straight thumb which is absolutely ideal. It feels great and its my second favorite thumb after Winning. You can make a really great fist in these gloves. The comfort these gloves offers is one of the best, the only complaint is the hand compartment but I found a way around it. Ive let other people use the gloves and they've all liked them as well, no complaints. I know some people love their gloves to fit tight too so keep these in mind if you prefer that

 

Performance/Protection/Wrist Support

These gloves are recognized as punchers gloves by Sabas. As I mentioned they have more feedback than something like Winnings. The protection these gloves offers is also incredible. The feedback isn't something comparable to Reyes but you definitely feel your punches. If you're someone who wants feedback but you want protection as well, you want to avoid sore knuckles, Sabas has you covered.

As for wrist protection, I havent hurt my wrists when using these. I do feel shock though and my wrists get sore more easily when using the Sabas gloves. Like I said before, I think the palm side padding could be changed to a better alternative to not only offer more room but to also support the wrist more. There is no give bending your wrist back but there is some bending it forward so again the plam side padding isnt my favorite but it does a decent job. There is also more give in the velcros than the lace ups.

These gloves are definitely all purpose, Ive used them for everything. Usually i recommend C17s or Winnings for sparring but these will perform similarly. You definitely should break them in first and soften them up more if you intend to spar in them. The break in process is fast though so after some rounds on the bag they'll be good to go for sparring as they protect both you and your sparring partner. They're also more narrow and compact than something like the C17s which is better for sparring as it better replicates small fight gloves.


Weight

Weight is distributed very well on both gloves but the lace ups are more evenly distributed than the velcros. As I mentioned earlier the velcros have more give at the wrist than the lace ups. They dont flop down though, the give is minimal but its something to take note of.

That being said though the both gloves are not true to weight especially the 14oz. The 14oz weigh in at 11.9oz for the left glove and 11.6oz for the right. 2oz+ off for each glove, which on one hand again is bad QC, but on the other these literal 12oz gloves have been harder to punch through than the 16oz C17s. A testament to the superb padding.

Also I had a guy spar me while using these. I usually use 12oz gloves to spar in though so it wasnt a big deal but after weighing these and realizing they were actually 12oz, honestly a nice surprise because they felt great and I was sure these were 14oz during the spar. It wasn't until days after that i weighed them. Definitely more comforting than something like the jarring Tokushus, solid IMF gloves, or Powerlocks.

The 16oz are closer to true to weight but still off as the left glove is 15oz and the right is 15.5oz.


Cost

These go for around $99, the prices vary but they usually dont stray far from $99. I think my blue and silvers were $109 or $99 on sale and the velcro gloves cost $89 on sale from $99. Something like that, Sabas usually has scattered sales but even without the deals the gloves are definitely worth the money.

I will admit after the first poor QC of my lace ups I was having second thoughts about ordering from Sabas again. I was assured that the issues of the lace ups werent normal and that the gloves are excellent quality. I took their word for it and ordered the Velcro gloves, they were right. My velcros are pretty close to perfect when it comes to quality, definitely better than the lace ups. As I said before the beautiful design of the gloves makes me want to order more so this thread will probably be updated with various pictures of my future orders.

Overall

These have become some of my favorite gloves of all time, easily top 5 maybe top 3. They're great all around gloves, they're holding up well. They aren't without their faults but the faults arent deal breakers either. Like I mentioned I think the wrist support should be changed to better accommodate larger wrists and to also offer more wrist support. The hand compartment could also be made a tad wider, nothing too drastic though as the narrow style of these gloves is excellent.

Sabas has definitely impressed me and I plan on ordering various gloves from them. They are excellent gloves that perform as good as they look. Sabas, the company as a whole, has actually become one of my favorites to work with as well. Even though I felt they didnt handle the issues of my lace ups very well, the whole situation made me mad actually. Customer service was always ready and willing to reply with an answer at all times and I have an overflowing inbox to prove it. Despite the issues with my lace ups though Sabas stood by their gloves and after i gave them another shot, the velcros proved them right. Their gloves are excellent, they dont beat Winning, at least not in my opinion but they can rival gear like the C17s and Tokushus without a doubt.



+Padding
+Construction
+Quality
+Color Combinations
+Wide Selection
+Price
+Thumb
+Comfort
+/-Feedback
+/-Customer Service
+/-Liner
-Palmside Foam
-Wrist Support
-Small Hand/Wrist Compartment
-Not true to weight

 

Those look sharp dude! Top notch review too.

I remember seeing a post by Sabas with regards to their gloves a while back and checking out their website, but I can't remember if they ship to Europe or not. Hopefully, as this reviews rekindled my interest.

 

Yeah man like i said top 5 favorite gloves now. The lace ups have various QC issues but they perform incredibly. The Velcros on the other hand are pretty close to perfect and i plan on getting tons of Sabas gloves in the future.

 

It's just too bad about small hand pocket. I may end up picking some up just because of the review with the possibility of selling them.

 

Yeah i mean i have small hands so they feel fine. I prefer them to be a little wider. For big hand users though, that might be an issue. There are some big freaking people who use Sabas though haha.

If you've ever used 12oz C17s the hand compartment is very similar to that. As i mentioned the C17s might be slightly wider, definitely in the wrist.

Besides that though the gloves are amazing. They really do look as good as they perform. Apparently their newer models like the new black and silver, gold and black, red and gold, etc, have a slightly bigger hand compartment. I have no experience with them though, yet haha. If you plan on getting some Sabas though the newer models would be the best bet for you.

 

I'm gonna snag a couple pairs of Sabas gloves on Friday!
Also off topic, how is the hand compartment in a pair of 16oz C17s? I prefer my gloves to have a snug fit (which is why I LOVE my Boxeo gloves for sparring still

 

The 16oz fit wide on me i love them though. Similar to Tokushus i suppose, wider than the Winning MS-500s. Im not sure which gloves you've tried so i dont know what to compare them to.

 

Great review RM. You answer almost every question possible, great work my brother.

Your statements on the padding really surprised me. It sounds like it's the real highlight of the gloves. Maybe different than most Mexican gloves? Where were these Manufactured?

 

Im not exactly sure where they're manufacturing these. But yeah the padding is incredible, the only bad padding is the palm side. And yes they're different than most "Mexican Style gloves," the padding is more protective but you can still feel feedback.

 

looks like Sabas is doing the Winning thing too

 

You know what I find most eye catching about these gloves??? The name!!!! Sabas spelled backwards is still......Sabas!!!! Oh yeah...the color combos are pretty ok too.

 

I thought the same thing.

 

Real mind blower right??? lol.

 

Compared to 16oz C17's it's definitely more compact/narrow/fitted but not at all restrictive, for me at least.

 

How deep is the finger pocket in comparison with other gloves you've used? They look to me like Grant clones so I might guess based on what Grants are like

$99 seems like a very fair price

 

Rodrigo are these the new Sabas 14 oz's that we were talking about recently?