Sabas Custom 16oz Glove

StRatoCastR

Gear Tester/Reviewer
@Brown
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Whats up Sherdog?
Its been a little since my last review. You guys know I'm up in Connecticut, and the winter has been cold and snowy. Its really made me NOT want to go to the gym!

These gloves really interested me from the get go. Rodrigo aka RMphilmacrac was the one who told me about these soon as he got them, praised them highly. I'm a sucker for Mexican style gloves so I pulled the trigger and bought these from Pedro @ Sabasfightgear. This gear is hecho en Mexico, for those wondering. I think this review will answer all the questions you guys have. I have gotten a considerable amount of PMs regarding Sabas, so without further adieu here is the review!

Look:
I wanted something simple and sleek. These gloves looked amazing on the website, and I knew they wouldn't disappoint either when I finally received them. I really like the Black and silver look as I've used this specific color combination in a few of my previous Mexican glove pairs. The black is that nice, rich black. the silver is beautiful and shiny. The craftsmanship of this glove is pretty remarkable, along with the smell. I love the high quality leather smell.

Regarding the craftsmanship: Everything is double stitched to perfection. Everywhere there is stitching, there are no loose threads or excess leather poking out of places. Vent holes on the thumb, zero on the palm area. The padding of the glove is much thicker than I am used to on a Mexican glove save for Boxeo. The 360 closure has the shiny silver on the outside, dull silver aka gray on the inside of the glove.

Unwrapping the 360, the inner glove liner is composed of 2 different liners, both soft to the touch, but I like the traditional small weave-wicking liner thats on the backside of the glove vs the winning like Nylon liner on the inside of the palm.

The glove itself is more slender and compact than the traditional Mexican style glove. It also doesn't widen near the fist area either. It lends itself more like a Grant style than a Reyes. Its pretty balanced though, its about as long as my Winnings which are more towards the middle than long or compact. The thumb is also not Mexican style in nature either. Its slightly curved, and is longer than the stubby Reyes like thumb. The glove itself is very balanced, like I stated before, but its also smaller than many of my gloves just in overall area. So for those getting a 16oz version such as myself, you will be surprised how much more slender it is that traditional trainers.

But because of this smaller nature of the glove, those with larger hands will NOT fit in this glove. Mexican gloves have a tendency to be snug in the 1st place, and these gloves are no exception. For those with Small/Medium hands, as always these gloves should pose no trouble in terms of fit.

Fit/Feel/Performance:
These gloves have substantial padding, and for those that appreciate Mexican quality craftsmanship but don't like the punchers aspect, these gloves are best suited for those looking for a balanced glove. They are superbly protective and offer a good amount of feedback. You will not get the Reyes feedback if you are looking for it, instead you will get a more slender, protective glove. The glove itself offers a very comfortable and unforced fist shape, which is awesome. Sometimes you really have to break a glove in before you get your fist really sitting where it needs to be. Make no mistake these gloves do require breaking in, but that is more to soften the foam than getting your hand placement and knuckle placement situated correctly.

The gloves are multi-layered padding, so while offering superior protection of that of a Reyes, it is a different feel. I personally like it, and I never once felt the padding bottoming out of giving out. I think all in all the padding of the glove is REALLY well made, and I think it will appeal to the masses. Its a great looking glove, with ideal hand placement and its really sleek and slender. Fist placement is great, what more can one ask for?

The hand compartment is a bit snug on me with wraps, but man I feel I can really crack the mitts and the heavy bag with these gloves. I had a TON of fun just putting these babies to work. Something about the leather than Mexico uses, its just supremely different. I was always a feedback guy, but using these man... It was just fun. I'm not sure it was a mental thing or not but it felt that every punch was on the money, every time. I really cant praise the hand placement in these gloves enough. It made a huge difference to me.

As far as the thumb goes, I'm always the wrong person to ask, because my thumbs arent long. Some of you guys have monstrous thumbs, and the thumb in these are very comfortable.

The wrist is adequate. I feel its the weakest part of the glove. For a velcro glove I would rate it a 8/10 in terms of support. Its not bad, but I do notice a big difference especially when switching to some of my more supportive 4 inch velcro gloves. There is just more play in the wrist with the Sabas.

Weight:
16oz glove
Left comes in at 15.9 oz
Right at 15.8 oz

Cost:
Custom gloves @ 160

Overall:
The answer is yes. What..? Yes.
I love these gloves! And I know many on Sherdog have already purchased Sabas, some are on their 2-3 purchase order at this time! Great gloves, amazing customer service. Pedro is going to be one of those guys that people love to talk to and just email. I sent him 6-7 emails before buying a pair, he was very patient and prompt. Sabas is going to be a name people remember, and I think they will become a Sherdog favorite among the locals here.

The gloves perform amazing, fist placement is probably the BEST I've ever tested. High quality stuff, those that want a protective Mexican glove, look no further, Sabas is your brand.

Score:
A

Contact:
[email protected]

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Gray on the inner cuff of closure:
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Silver on out cuff of closure:
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hitting surface
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updated with pics, also jesus freak, if you read the actual review i said i would post them later on the 2nd post.
 
Another great review for the records, Strat.

I'm loving both of my 16oz Sabas gloves - Triple cuff laceups and SuperSoft 2.0.

I have no experience with Grant (way too expensive), but the TC look like a Grant-inspired design. I did ask Sabas if the TC uses the same padding installation method as Grant does (some kind of "inverted" procedure that TopBoxer mentioned a while back), and they said they do, just not the same padding.

I find the TC's padding system to be unique. To me it feels like a thicker, softer version of Reyes' trainers. Like a reinforced puncher's style if that makes any sense lol. A good balance, as you said.

Any plans on acquiring their Supersofts? I'm very very impressed with them and am interested in what you would have to say about them. The only thing I don't like is the super tight inner compartment, but they've been breaking in nice lately.

Looks like I've found my new substitute for my Winning 16oz, instead of the C17s (which I still like).
 
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yeah most definitely Ill have to hit Pedro up... sigh... again lmao.
But yeah, you guys are doing a great job finding glove companies!
Sabas is definitely a great one.

I dont want to derail my own thread so ill shoot you a msg regarding other gloves.

but yeah, as far as the supersofts, do you prefer them to the regular sabas, if so why?
 
yeah most definitely Ill have to hit Pedro up... sigh... again lmao.
But yeah, you guys are doing a great job finding glove companies!
Sabas is definitely a great one.

I dont want to derail my own thread so ill shoot you a msg regarding other gloves.

but yeah, as far as the supersofts, do you prefer them to the regular sabas, if so why?

Well, I don't have a definite answer, as they're both excellent gloves.

But if I HAD to choose, then yes the Supersofts over TC.

That's probably because I'm biased on the whole Winning-inspiration thing (and I paid $180 for their limited stock of the metallic gold model, so I value it more), besides the fact that I just prefer gloves that are more geared in the protection department.

As I've mentioned before though, the break-in process of the SuperSoft2 was kind of annoying, I had sore thumb joints for a while.

The TC did not require any break in, and felt great right away. I love the super straight thumb design.
 
Oh, incase you haven't picked up on my comparison on the SuperSoft 1.0 12oz versus the SS2.0 16oz in the other thread:

Besides the obvious change/upgrade of the firmer outer padding, I definitely felt like the fit of the SS1 12oz was very similar to the TC, which I preferred.

I wonder it's just because of the metallic gold leather that was making my SS2 hard to break in. (Not that I have any knowledge of leather, just a wild guess)
 
Love the exposure Sabas is getting. Hands down some of the best gloves ive ever used. Great review Starto, always appreciate reading them!
 
^ Definitely. I only looked into them because of you haha.

Slightly off topic, but this is directed at both Stratocastr and rmphilmacrac;

Any plans on picking up a pair of 10oz Winning Pro Fight gloves?? Out of every single glove I own, those remain to be my absolute favorite and primary for heavybag work!

So damn comfortable, light, and protective, I don't even use knuckle guards with them anymore (didn't need to in the first place because I didn't think they would be protective enough, it was just to help break them in I guess).

I don't even use my 10oz Reyes Safetec fight gloves much anymore (Not really a fan of IMF style padding), especially since there's actually wrist support in the Winning's as to zero in the Reyes.

Been using them since 2013 and they are starting to stink and show plenty of wear and tear on the striking surface (especially since they are White), but performance wise, no degradation!
 
I dont buy pro fights anymore. They just dont last. The safetecs and the guerreros, the exception to the rule.

But i do plan on getting the supersofts. If they are as good as you guys claim. Im very excited
 
I plan on getting the Winning pro fight but the longevity is making me wait on them. Id rather get other gear right now. So those can wait but i promise youll get a review
 
Great review. I'd pick some Sabas up if it weren't for the fact that I keep hearing large hands wouldn't fit. I love how compact they look. Strat, how would the pocket compare to the 10 ounce safetecs or the 12 ounce Invictos you reviewed? Those are about the smallest and most snug I can get before it gets uncomfortable.
 
Great review. I'd pick some Sabas up if it weren't for the fact that I keep hearing large hands wouldn't fit. I love how compact they look. Strat, how would the pocket compare to the 10 ounce safetecs or the 12 ounce Invictos you reviewed? Those are about the smallest and most snug I can get before it gets uncomfortable.
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Trust you wont have any issues with hand compartment in these gloves. If you dare to try..
 
Great review. I'd pick some Sabas up if it weren't for the fact that I keep hearing large hands wouldn't fit. I love how compact they look. Strat, how would the pocket compare to the 10 ounce safetecs or the 12 ounce Invictos you reviewed? Those are about the smallest and most snug I can get before it gets uncomfortable.

Yeah if u can fit in the 10oz safetecs you should be able to fit into these
 
Great review, Strat!

I ordered a pair this weekend and I'm looking forward to trying them out soon enough.
 
Yeah man im pretty sure you will love em!
Seems like some of the guys got them and love em
 
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