Fighter Thailand - Genuine Leather Gloves
There's no better Muay Thai glove in terms of value
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Review:
Fighter Thailand - Genuine Leather Gloves
I am fully prepared to take a lot of stick for this post from people who are upset with this choice. How does a brand that you’ve never heard of, with a name that sounds more like a Google search term produce the best boxing glove in the industry?
With names like, Twins, Top King, Fairtex and Yokkao dominating the “Best Muay Thai Glove” conversations for many years in Thailand, I completely understand people’s scorn at me proclaiming that none of those are at the top of my list. However, I will take heart in saying with some fair degree of certainty that anyone who carries that scorn has never heard of this glove.
And part of that certainty is due to the fact that virtually nobody has heard of the company or seen the glove. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to even get some information on these gloves unless you do a very specific Google search. Oftentimes, incorporating the name of the product into the name of your company is very smart from the standpoint of search engines and name association. But Fighter Thailand is almost too generic.
Weirdly, when I asked the owner if he had a website because I wanted to review his products, he sent me to his Facebook page. Later, I went to find a photo of his gloves online and stumbled upon his site. The site doesn’t do much to promote his company. Hopefully, it is still being developed and will improve soon. It allows you to choose English language, but there’s not much translated to English. Better to click the pop-up Google translator.
Actually, it’s worth the hassle you’ll go through because they have some really amazing Muay Thai products. But looking at the site may leave you thinking that this Muay Thai company is one of the many in Thailand trying to move crap equipment.
Nothing could be farther from the truth!!!! Fighter Thailand is legit. These guys are straight up ballers when it comes to manufacturing quality Muay Thai gear. Keep in mind that I come at this conclusion from the perspective of an owner of a Muay Thai gym who is looking for the best glove in terms of one thing and one thing only- value for money as a loaner glove in my gym. With that in mind and having experienced all of these more famous Boxing brands as loaner equipment, I can say unequivocally, that this Muay Thai glove from an obscure company which doesn’t even have a recognizable product code, is the best that I have ever come across!
I first became aware of this brand many years ago from a fat Muay Thai trainer that I had on staff. He was fairly useless as a trainer and was constantly trying to figure out ways to make money without working. He recommended these guys when I was in the market for some new pads. I’m sure he somehow got a commission- fair enough. I was skeptical, but ordered a set of kicking pads from them and was impressed. Then I ordered a few more sets and eventually decided to try the Muay Thai training gloves.
This has been a real eye-opener. I absolutely did not expect the results that I got. This boxing glove has easily given me twice the life span that I got from any other manufacturer that I have used in Thailand. That is a huge value!
Let’s break it down…
First Impressions: Fighter Muay Thai Glove
Upon first sight, the basic model of these gloves reminds me of the Twins Special BGVL-3. By that, I mean that it won’t jump off the shelf as a slick glove which will make anyone scream “I gotta have that one!” The fact that the logo simply says “Fighter” and is fairly generic also makes it seem that you could easily overlook it. The gloves come in a few different colors- red, blue and black. I assume a few more, as well. Every time I go to buy from them, I ask for a new catalogue and there always seems to be some new designs.
The basic model has a slightly larger handpocket that some of the others- especially Fairtex and Top King. It has more of the feel of the Twins Special once it is slipped on. Possibly, it even has a touch more room inside. If you can get past the ho-hum logo, you’ll see that everything about the Fighter Thailand glove shouts “Quality!”
There is a slightly larger profile compared to some of the other gloves at the top. It’s a small difference and you may not see it unless you are specifically looking for it or hold them side-by-side with another glove. But it is there.
Comfort
As with all these gloves, they feel good when you put them on. Once your hands are wrapped, you’ll find that the wrist and pocket offer that little bit of extra room, so you don’t need to struggle to get them on. They are a little bit wider at the opening than some other gloves on the market and this is nice when you are constantly taking them off and on. I spend a lot of time getting one hand free to start timers, drink water, change music, etc. during my classes and I know from experience that some gloves can actively work against you when you are a trainer in a gym.
My palms are over sized and my fingers a bit fat, so I appreciate the size more than others. I use the 12oz gloves with 2m meter handwraps and am really happy with the fit.
When these gloves are new and they are your own personal gloves, you’ll really like the way they hold up and mold to your own hand’s dimensions. Punching a bag with these Fighter Thailand gloves feels good. There’s plenty of wrist support but they are not overly tight like some models. Of course, you can snug up the fit by tightening up the velcro. That said, the tiny bit of extra room doesn’t allow for the same sort of snap-back on a heavybag as do the Fairtex or the Top King basic models. But the difference is very subtle and I believe the upside far outweighs the negatives.
I know I tend to keep harping on about it, but the extra room doesn’t mean that your hands will slide around, rub or cause blisters. It just means that you don’t have the tightness that other gloves may offer.
Glove Durability
This is where these gloves excel! I absolutely love that I am able to rely on these gloves to hold their shape and stay together for as long as they have. I purchased 15 sets of gloves in late 2019. I put 12 of them into use at the same time. Since then, every other glove that we were using in the rotation has been retired. We usually have about 22 pairs for use for drop-ins. On a normal day pre-Covid 19, we would have anywhere from 5-10 customers in the morning and 15-20 in the afternoon session. We also have a boxing class 3 times a week and numerous drop-ins. So the gloves got a good 15 months of use at full capacity before this crappy pandemic crashed down on us all.
Since then, our numbers have probably averaged out to about 25% of that total. And every original Fighter Thailand glove that I have is still in use! That is so far beyond my expectations that I am just awestruck.
I do believe that the tiny bit of extra space in the hand-pocket partially contributes to this long life. I mean, in my logic, if your gloves are not stretched across your fist as tightly, they should be more likely to hold up to a beating for longer. That said, the Fighter Thailand Genuine Leather Boxing Glove is also very well constructed and is definitely made from quality leather.
For comparison purposes, I always was sold on the Twins Special for loaner use for the gym. And they would rarely make it for a year. That is with probably 2 uses a day on average. They were the standard and I was just resigned to the fact that Muay Thai gloves last for about a year under fairly heavy use. The Top King gloves that I bought didn’t last nearly as long as that. I never tried Fairtex or Yokkao gloves as loaners because they were too expensive, even though they are made here in Thailand and my Muay Thai camp is also here. It seemed a bit of overkill to have such fancy gloves for use by anyone whop walked in off the street.
After 15 months of heavy use in the gym, our Fighter Thailand gloves- all 12 pairs- looked brand new. And by that I mean, there were no holes, not a single stitch that was unraveled. The lining of all of them was still intact. If we had dried them out completely in the sun, you would have thought they were new. After another 18 months of Covid where they have been getting much less use, we can finally see some wear and tear. And even that is limited to a few gloves. These are as close to bullet-proof as you can get!
Value for Money: Fighter Thailand Muay Thai Glove
Not only is the Fighter Thailand Muay Thai glove the best glove of the many that I have tried, it is the best priced glove on the market! They do tend to be a little bit cheaper than the Twins Special. The Fairtex and Yokkao gloves are more expensive still. I’m sure there are dozens of knock-off brands which you can purchase for even less money, but there is no better glove on the market in terms of value.
These gloves are still fairly unknown in many of the Muay Thai gyms around Thailand. I know that there are some others that use them, but I’ve spoken to many people in the game and very few have ever heard of the brand. That is not going to be the case for long, I believe.
Fighter Thailand is also starting to get some slicker looking models out. With that comes the opportunity for gyms to fit them into their retail supply. This will only help raise their exposure.
I don’t often think about that over-sized, lazy Muay Thai trainer in the best of terms, but I will say that he deserves a thank you for introducing me to this brand…
So, there you have it. The world’s best Muay Thai Training Glove- the quirkily-named Fighter Thailand- Velcro Boxing Gloves “Genuine Leather”!
