- Joined
- Oct 7, 2018
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Greeting, I've been lurking the forums for quite some time, but after getting a pair of TopBoxer gloves I felt the urge to share my experience with those.
I started talking with Muhammad early October. He talked me through the process and material used to make my gloves. He was very patient and answered my questions promptly. I confirmed the order the following week. Again, he kept me updated during the process, sending me pictures of the cut leather and then of the finished product before sending it. I received the pair the second week of November.
The gloves I ordered are 16oz Winning style gloves, on navy blue and white colors. My primary (And pretty much only) use for these gloves is sparring. I asked for a padding that would give good protection to both my hand and my sparring partner, but was also somehow compact. After using the gloves for a couple of weeks here are my impressions below.
Let’s start with the looks of the glove. They are absolutely beautiful. I had high expectations for TopBoxer, and yet he managed to surpass those. The colors are great, the leather looks and feels nice. The stitching (double) is top notch, I could not find any loose threads in the main construction of the glove. As I use those, I will give more updates. There is however one issue. The TopBoxer logo stitched on the back of the wrist wasn’t properly stitched, and is coming off after just a few sparring sessions. Performance wise its won’t affect me, but is a bit of a bummer.
The padding is great, very soft as I requested, but not to the point where my knuckles can be felt on impact, which would defeat the original purpose of this glove. My sparring partners love it, to the point where I feel it is a bit unfair to me given that they use Cleto Reyes and other Mexican style gloves that are pretty hard…However the back of the gloves offers such protection that I feel comfortable blocking the punches for those guys without worries. All around the gloves makes me feel like my hands are properly protected. The wrists are also well padded back and palm side. Unlike my original stock gloves, the wrist padding is made of cotton soft padding rather than EVA, which I personally prefer for lace-up gloves.
The inside lining is extremely comfortable, probably one of the bests I’ve used. It also dries fairly well after sessions, given that you air it well and take care of your gloves. Personally, I like to use deodorizers as well. It fits my hands very well, with just a bit of room around, the thumb placement is good, better than my stock gloves. They came pretty broken in, allowing me to open my fist well and deflect/parry shoots right on my first time using those gloves. The amazing wrist padding also make that an easier task. The one part where I have a complaint is the wrist support. It seems to be a bit to big for me so when wearing it, even after tying it up well, I am not 100% confident of its support. This could be a personal thing, and I think that for some people the wrist size would be perfect, just not for me. On my next gloves I would probably discuss with Muhammad alternatives to improve the wrist for me.
Overall performance during sparring…It is great. As I mentioned. Very well padded allowing me to throw some harder shoots without fear of hurting my opponent, and they feel just compact enough to allow me to penetrate my opponent guard from time to time, while still not allowing my opponent to do the same too easily. It feels like a good balance of offence and defense, thus making a great tool for harder sparring sessions. They feel true to weight, not too heavy unlike some other gloves I’ve used (Reyes, R2C MIM Foam and Sabas), I can throw some quick double and triple jabs with those.
I have one critique, and that is on the area where the back of the glove meets the wrist (See pictures). As I said I need to lace them tight, and it feels like there is no padding or nothing around that small area where the lace is tied up, just some very thin Pakistani leather. I feel this further decreases the wrist support. Yes, I can tie up it further up the glove and push the padding back, but I’ve used gloves where that area felt more solid without the need to do that.
I don’t believe in giving scores in reviews, rather I prefer giving final toughs. Overall, I think those are great gloves and I highly recommend them. If you are looking for great sparring gloves, this is it. I am looking into getting a pair of 12oz bag gloves next, which a different padding to allow for more of a puncher’s glove feel to it. Maybe I will even get some additional 16oz with a wrist that better fits me. I love them, the other gym members love them. They are for sure worth the $150.00, and Muhammad’s customer service make the process a pleasure. I hope this review was helpful. Cheers!
Photos:
I started talking with Muhammad early October. He talked me through the process and material used to make my gloves. He was very patient and answered my questions promptly. I confirmed the order the following week. Again, he kept me updated during the process, sending me pictures of the cut leather and then of the finished product before sending it. I received the pair the second week of November.
The gloves I ordered are 16oz Winning style gloves, on navy blue and white colors. My primary (And pretty much only) use for these gloves is sparring. I asked for a padding that would give good protection to both my hand and my sparring partner, but was also somehow compact. After using the gloves for a couple of weeks here are my impressions below.
Let’s start with the looks of the glove. They are absolutely beautiful. I had high expectations for TopBoxer, and yet he managed to surpass those. The colors are great, the leather looks and feels nice. The stitching (double) is top notch, I could not find any loose threads in the main construction of the glove. As I use those, I will give more updates. There is however one issue. The TopBoxer logo stitched on the back of the wrist wasn’t properly stitched, and is coming off after just a few sparring sessions. Performance wise its won’t affect me, but is a bit of a bummer.
The padding is great, very soft as I requested, but not to the point where my knuckles can be felt on impact, which would defeat the original purpose of this glove. My sparring partners love it, to the point where I feel it is a bit unfair to me given that they use Cleto Reyes and other Mexican style gloves that are pretty hard…However the back of the gloves offers such protection that I feel comfortable blocking the punches for those guys without worries. All around the gloves makes me feel like my hands are properly protected. The wrists are also well padded back and palm side. Unlike my original stock gloves, the wrist padding is made of cotton soft padding rather than EVA, which I personally prefer for lace-up gloves.
The inside lining is extremely comfortable, probably one of the bests I’ve used. It also dries fairly well after sessions, given that you air it well and take care of your gloves. Personally, I like to use deodorizers as well. It fits my hands very well, with just a bit of room around, the thumb placement is good, better than my stock gloves. They came pretty broken in, allowing me to open my fist well and deflect/parry shoots right on my first time using those gloves. The amazing wrist padding also make that an easier task. The one part where I have a complaint is the wrist support. It seems to be a bit to big for me so when wearing it, even after tying it up well, I am not 100% confident of its support. This could be a personal thing, and I think that for some people the wrist size would be perfect, just not for me. On my next gloves I would probably discuss with Muhammad alternatives to improve the wrist for me.
Overall performance during sparring…It is great. As I mentioned. Very well padded allowing me to throw some harder shoots without fear of hurting my opponent, and they feel just compact enough to allow me to penetrate my opponent guard from time to time, while still not allowing my opponent to do the same too easily. It feels like a good balance of offence and defense, thus making a great tool for harder sparring sessions. They feel true to weight, not too heavy unlike some other gloves I’ve used (Reyes, R2C MIM Foam and Sabas), I can throw some quick double and triple jabs with those.
I have one critique, and that is on the area where the back of the glove meets the wrist (See pictures). As I said I need to lace them tight, and it feels like there is no padding or nothing around that small area where the lace is tied up, just some very thin Pakistani leather. I feel this further decreases the wrist support. Yes, I can tie up it further up the glove and push the padding back, but I’ve used gloves where that area felt more solid without the need to do that.
I don’t believe in giving scores in reviews, rather I prefer giving final toughs. Overall, I think those are great gloves and I highly recommend them. If you are looking for great sparring gloves, this is it. I am looking into getting a pair of 12oz bag gloves next, which a different padding to allow for more of a puncher’s glove feel to it. Maybe I will even get some additional 16oz with a wrist that better fits me. I love them, the other gym members love them. They are for sure worth the $150.00, and Muhammad’s customer service make the process a pleasure. I hope this review was helpful. Cheers!
Photos:
