I will be reviewing the 16 ounce top ten red boxing gloves. A little back story, I had two pairs of rival boxing gloves. One i used only for hitting the bags and the other I used only for sparring with the logic that the sparring gloves will stay in tact longer and thus be easier on sparring partners.
When my rival bag gloves imploded from a year of bag work, i opted to use my rival sparring gloves as my bag gloves and buy a new pair of sparring gloves.
My choice to go with top ten was largely influenced by the fact that the only top ten store in canada is located in my city (Ottawa, ON). So i just went to the store and picked them up as opposed to ordering online which I assume most people do to buy top ten products.
Now, the point of my review is to expose the manufacturing quality of top ten boxing gloves after 6 months of light use as exclusively sparring gloves. Therefore this will not be a "brand new" review.
What I can tell you about the gloves is that they have nice big finger compartments and feel great on your hand. The foam is mostly concentrated at the front of the glove which makes you hit with your fingers rather than the knuckles but overall I was happy with my purchase. At first glance the gloves APPEAR to be well made.
However after 6 months of SPARRING use (no bagwork whatsoever). They began to deteriorate on me with this as the final result:
Now for comparison, I will post the images of my current rival bag gloves which were my former sparring gloves. Keep in mind...these gloves were used for sparring for 1 year and 6 months of bag work.
As you can see...the rival gloves which have sustained 1 year of 3x a week sparring and 6 months of 3x a week bag work are essentially BRAND SPANKING NEW.
Its also important to note that both these gloves were stored in the EXACT same way for their respective life times. Both pairs of gloves had designated "glove socks" when not in use and the gym bag which i kept them in was always open for ventilation.
Now, heres the good part. As anyone can see...my top ten sparring gloves are unusable, and taking into account the information I have mentioned above, and the vastly superior quality of the rivals, I believed an exchange for a faulty 150$ product was in due order. As a side note, my main sparring partner and friend with the exact same gloves has the exact same ripping in the exactly same place on his jabbing hand (i will post pictures of his tomorrow).
So I go to the top ten store with my faulty top ten gloves and my rivals for comparison. By chance the store owner was there so I was happy that this would be sorted out quickly. I asked him to take a look at these gloves...first thing he did was laugh and say that I wasn't taking care of my gloves properly. He then proceeded to explain to me that top ten products MUST NOT BE PUT IN A BAG.
Let me repeat that...top ten gloves CANNOT BE PUT IN A GYM BAG. He then told me that the moisture in my gym bag is what caused the leather to weaken and then rip, and that top ten guarantees the foam but not leather. I then explained to him that the top ten gloves were handled in the EXACT same way as the rivals which I had in the car for comparison. I asked him if he wanted to see the rivals, he said "no thanks...ill take your word for it." No refund, no exchange, no quality, no respect.
So in conclusion would I recommend top ten products? No. Not only are they poorly made, but on top of that they won't take responsibility for their crap products.
***UPDATE***
I sent the owner an email asking him to reconsider an exchange. This is a quote from the email he wrote me back:
"Hi Alex we denied your request because the gloves were soaking wet suggesting you may be leaving your gloves in your bag"
Luckily, since then I have solved the mystery as to why my rivals are not soaking wet despite being also being kept in the bag. Here are some quotes from my subsequent email reply:
" You are mistaken in your analysis of my gloves. See, the rip occurred about a month ago, and it was only recently that i found the time to visit your store. In that time, yes, these gloves were used for regular training. Keep in mind that there is now a hole the size of a golf ball in the glove thus leaving the glove susceptible to picking up moisture. Clothing was NEVER kept in the bag with any of my gloves. So how did my gloves get "soaking wet" as you say? Punching sweaty dudes and clinching up with them. (i.e regular use)
Once moisture gets inside there is no way its getting outta there. So quite simply, the glove i bought from your store became wet because it ripped rather than rip because it was wet. This is why my Rival gloves are still in perfect condition (and not soaking wet) despite sustaining far worse "abuse" as you call it.
Now I'm going to go a step further and point out a design flaw in your gloves which causes this to happen as it did to myself and a few others i know. You can thank me for this later. Your Bayfill glove mold is designed in such a way that the boxer using them needs to constantly clench his fist in order for it to stay closed. This is because the mold actually prevents keeping a closed fist in resting position. Obviously the boxer is in danger of breaking his hand in the event that he does not keep his fist clenched.
So what you have is a constant internal stress within the glove which in the engineering world is a giant no-no. The internal stress is emphasized in the finger compartment due to the forces of the glove pulling your fist apart, and the forces provided by the muscles of your fingers tensing to keep the fist together. "
So basically, the glove became filled with moisture from INSIDE OUT due to training with a tear in the glove. This explains the discoloration in the leather that another user noticed and also explains water damage in the foam that another user noticed. In light of this new discovery, the fact that the gloves are soaking wet is effectively irrelevant in determining wether or not I should get a new pair of gloves. The fact remains that the rip did happen due to poor design, and should be replaced! Awaiting a reply from the owner.
Quite frankly im sick of having to do this. Ive never in my LIFE had poorer customer service. He treats his customers like criminals and keeps coming up with excuses to save a couple bucks. Moral of the story: Do not buy from top ten canada.
***UPDATE***
Some people were questioning the integrity of my review saying that it was hard to believe these gloves were used for 6 months.
Here is a photo of my T-shirt after sparring with a guy who has had these gloves for 3 months. I mentioned before that the paint comes off like nothing and leaves the leather with its natural color. (the discoloration that other users were noticing).
So basically i got nowhere with top ten canada, so ive contacted the manufacturer in germany. Awaiting their reply. Will keep you posted!!!
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All of them.
