Pork Chop

Stats
Manufacturer: Grant
Price: 119.99 from grantboxing.com and ringside.com
Weight: 16oz (available in 12, 14, 16, 18, 20)
Type: Lace-Up Training glove
Color: purchased the gloves in the picture, also available in red, blue, green, white, and yellow from grantboxing.com; ringside.com only sells black and red
Composition: High quality leather, cloth/canvas interior, foam fill, lace-up enclosure

My Experience

In my last review I described my experience with Reyes gloves- the 16oz ones had a pocket too wide, the 14oz gloves fit a little better, but not enough padding. After selling both pairs I went for a pair of Grant Super Bag gloves. I loved those gloves so much i decided to get some lace up training gloves to use for sparring.

I don't remember too much from the day I bought these gloves. I've got kind of a love-hate relationship with them. I remember lending them out really early and hearing that they were stiff.

Whereas Reyes likes a waxy, matte finish to their gloves, Grant opts for a very glossy finish to the leather. With the Grant super bag gloves, this leather was still soft and supple. The feeling of the leather is a little different on this pair than the super bag gloves- a little more dry & stiff, though still super high quality.

The extra long cuff on this glove is an interesting dilemma. On one hand it provides AWESOME support, you feel like you can punch a train with these gloves; at the same time the cuff is so long that a glovers assistant might not do the trick.

The fit of these gloves is also different than the super bag gloves. There's definitely more space in the pocket, especially in the knuckle area. Whereas the reyes gloves seemed to have a lot of space laterally, making it hard to find where to put my fist; the Grants had it more straight ahead - my knuckles weren't in contact with the foam when making a fist. At least this does seem to accommodate a knuckle guard; which brings me to my next point.

The fill on these gloves feels much like a Reyes glove (with harder leather). Like with the super bag gloves, the foam softened over time. Eventhough it has more padding than the super bag gloves, the added space around the knuckles seems to negate that. Again, knuckle guards are a must to protect my hands.

Not sure if I want to be using these gloves on any of my sparring partners; though I don't think they're that much worse than the cheapo everlasts that most people use for everything in the gym - for years on end. All that being said, i've never had any complaints about the padding on these gloves from sparring partners once I broke them in- aside from the first-week comment they were a bit stiff. I do keep 'em around and will probably use them for sparring again someday. So take that for what you will.

Pros:
High quality materials
Awesome construction
Attractive Appearance
The best wrist support I've seen

Cons:
Foam could be a little thicker to provide more knuckle protection (& protection for sparring partners)
Laces can be a hassle.
I think the fit could be a little better around the knuckles.
I don't like the foam in weird places - too much foam in the thumb & along the back of the wrist, why not use that padding over the knuckles?

Score:
Quality 10/10
Value 9/10
Performance 8/10
Comfort 8/10

Price point not as bad as the super bag gloves.

Had to take off points for performance and comfort due to the foam not protecting my knuckles enough.

TysonJones

Another great review.

__________________

Viktorkrupp

great review, this is the next glove I have been considering. Do you think that they are big inside to fit a guazed taped rather than wrapped hand? it really sucks that you have to buy these things to see how they fit. the guys where i train have always used shi* gloves, so i am usually the guy with the best gear. I'm all set if I want to try a pair of POS everlasts
BTW my Grant Bag gloves have a cotton interior, and don't seem as nice inside as my Reyes are these the same inside?

Pork Chop

The grants are more narrow than the reyes, but still a lot of space between the knuckles and the fill.
I've worn a knuckle guard pretty comfortably - heck, I'm not sure the knuckle guard took up all the space.
I imagine you could wear a gauze wrap pretty easily.

I let someone borrow them the day i got them and they commented how hard the gloves were for sparring (leather's kinda hard, fill comes very firm out of the box and isn't that thick).
Depending on your goals for wearing 16oz, i personally don't feel the fill is enough and don't normally spar with them.
The wrist support makes you feel like you could punch a truck though - so i do like to break them out for bag work.

The interior's the same as the super bag glove.

Interesting that you mention Everlast - I hate their High Performance line (the ones everyone wears to the gym) but i remember the Professional training gloves being the most comfortable leather I ever tried. my only beef with them before was the fill and I believe they use a more advanced foam fill now; so I'm considering giving them a second look.

For everyday sparring I use my IMF 16z (which may be tight for a gauze wrap) and my new Top Tens (see my other review for these).

I'll bring the grants to a gym tomorrow to try them out again (on a bag) and update this thread if I've changed any of my opinions.

Viktorkrupp

I was thinking of getting a pair. I have the pro bag gloves, I really like them, but after several workouts the lining has started to bother me a little. The lining feels like canvas, instead of the material in the reyes which I assume is nylon. I also think my regulars might be a bit small for me, I expected them to open up some with use, like my Reyes Pro bag gloves, but they are still stiff. I'm like goldilocks these are too big , these are too small....or maybe I just want to buy more gloves. Going to Mexico next week, so I might bring an extra suitcase

Pork Chop

I think the liner's cotton - but yeah, it's the same on both gloves. The leather on the Super Bag gloves should stretch a little, but not as much as like Ultimate Classic Superbag gloves (where a medium can become a large). i think it takes a while too - i remember mine being really snug the first few months.

I've gotta be honest, I still have not gone back to my Grant trainers to check them out; sorry just bein lazy I guess.
I've mostly been using the Top Ten Sparring gloves I reviewed on the other thread - still "breaking them in" I guess, with 3 rounds of bag work a session. I put the Top Tens in my gear bag and just kept forgetting to switch them out.

Let me try out the Grant training gloves tonight and give them a more up-to-date review; I'll do my best to remember.
One of the things I'm a little concerned about; even if I do review them, is that I think Grant padding may re-harden when not being used. I think the padding softens up with use, actually becoming thicker & more protective, and that can really change my opinion on them.

If you can shop in Mexico, aside from Reyes, you may want to check out Paolo Males (sp?) gloves- my buddy's got a pair and they're sweet.

Pork Chop

Okay I finally tried them out again last night.
Here's the deal with the Grant training gloves:
The leather feels harder than the super bag glove but they have a very flexible pocket, so it's not hard to make a fist and you can open them all the way very easily.
The pocket around the palm & wrist is very snug (especially when you lace it up real tight).
The pocket around the big knuckles is very wide- about an inch and a half wider at the knuckles than the super bag glove.
The pocket has a lot of lateral space, but not as spacious as I thought in front of the knuckles- though it really depends on how you make your fist.
The fill is only an inch to an inch and a half thick; which may even be thinner than the super bag gloves.
If I had to guess - they added glove ounce weight by making it wider instead of thicker; which is kinda shady coz in practice a 16 will be the same as a 14 or a 12.
Punching the soft part of an everlast heavybag (at the top half) it wasn't bad on the knuckles.
When I punched the sandy part of the bag at the bottom (aka the rock) you could really feel it.
With hard bags I'd venture you can risk bruising without added protection; unless the padding softens up some more with regular use.
The liner on both gloves is in fact a soft canvas.

Viktorkrupp

Thanks ProkChop, you answered my ?
I think the real bargian right now is what ringside is marketing as the Reyes super Bag glove. They call them bag gloves because of the weight i think. I have a pair in 14oz(regular), and they are exactly like my 16oz from Mexico but smaller. for only $99. Think i might pick up a pair of the larges and see. I noticed that these Grants are finally back in stock at ringside as well.