Fairtex Glory Kickboxing Gloves Review (2024)

Fairtex Glory Kickboxing Gloves Review

Fairtex x Glory Gloves Key Features

Fairtex started out producing Muay Thai equipment but has become one of the biggest brands in the combat sports world. They have a wide range of equipment for all major sports and supply huge organizations like One FC and Glory Kickboxing with their fight gear.

We are here to look at the official Glory kickboxing gloves you can buy, which are the same as the ones used in competition. Here are the official features of the Fairtex x Glory kickboxing gloves, also known as the not-so-cool-sounding BGVG1 model.

Craftsmanship And Quality

Leather/Material

Like all genuine leather gloves Fairtex produces, the BGVG1 Glory Kickboxing Gloves are made from 100% high-grade leather. The feel, look, and texture are great; without being a specialist, I feel the leather is of good quality. When I unpacked the gloves, they had the pleasant genuine leather smell, and they still have it after quite a few sweaty rounds.

All genuine leather Thai-made gloves have a small sign stating that fact, a tradition I am keen on. The Thai makers are proud of their work, and I agree they should be after using a few pairs of gloves wearing the "Handmade in Thailand" seal.

Stitching

Continuing with the previous point, the seal is a mark of quality in materials and craftsmanship. The stitching is done excellently, and I have no complaints. When I was initially inspecting how it is done, I thought I found a place where the threads were uneven. Still, it turned out there is just a second line of threads on more vulnerable spots.

Lining

The lining is not bad, but it's not good, either. It's the standard nylon that does not soak up with sweat and is found basically on every glove below $150.

The overall quality of the gloves deserved something a bit better, but then for the price, these are already a bargain. The lining is not an actual deficiency but something I would've liked to be better.

Padding

The padding is three layers and on the harder side. When I first tried the gloves, it was a bit hard for sparring, but after a couple of bag sessions, it was ready to hit people, not just training equipment.

The padding is distributed more like a boxer's glove, with most of it on the knuckles and not so much on the top and sides. Looking at the gloves from the side, you can see how much there is on the knuckles for a 14-ounce glove.

The palm is not padded, but the wrist padding extends relatively high to the palm and helps with parrying. 

Comfort And Feel

Shape

The shape of the Fairtex x Glory model is more like a typical boxing glove than a Muay Thai style.

I love boxing gloves with an angular punching surface, meaning that when you look at it from the top, the first knuckles are projecting forward, and the pinky is backward, and these have that shape.

The BGVG1 has a sleek shape, strongly resembling Mexican-style boxing gloves.

I have a 14-ounce pair, and they are compact overall, with medium bulkiness. But the elongated and angular shape makes them easier to squeeze through a tight guard.

What I am not impressed with, though, is the thumb. It has a sharp angle right in the middle, which I don’t like at all. Before the break-in period, it put a lot of pressure on my middle thumb knuckle, and after I used the gloves for a while, the pressure lessened, but it was still unpleasant.

Most gloves usually have a small piece of leather or some other material connecting the thumb and knuckles. Still, here, Fairtex has used a full leather piece, guaranteeing that the thumb will never get separated.

Comfort/Feel

Aside from the tight and irritating thumb, the overall feel of the Fairtex BGVG1 model is good. The hand compartment is medium to large, and with hand wraps, it's a good enough fit. Making a fist feels very natural, and I feel confident punching with power from all angles.

One slight flaw on the inside is the stitches around the fingers. Especially around the first finger, you can feel a big piece of what are likely threads that could've been covered in something softer. But the finger compartment overall is comfortable and of good length and width.

A strange decision on Fairtex's behalf is not to make any ventilation holes on the wrist or the thumb. If I am honest, I don't mind because I have yet to train properly and not be drenched in sweat regardless of whether there are holes, so I didn't feel any difference, but it's something worth pointing out.

Wrist Protection

The cuff of the Fairtex x Glory gloves is elongated, reaching the middle of the forearm for better wrist protection. A solid piece of padding on the top of the wrist and two nice, long pieces of padding on the bottom reaching the palm provide sufficient support. The wrist padding is high enough that it even helps with parrying punches.

As someone with a thin wrist, these gloves are too loose without hand wraps for me, but with full Mexican-style wraps, I feel very secure and have had no issues with wrist pain.

Visuals

The Fairtex BGVG1 model is beautiful. As the marketing text on one website says, the design is "simple and sophisticated." Both gloves have opposite texts, with Fairtex and Glory written in the two brands' respective fonts, which is an idea I like very much.

The left glove has "Fairtex" written across the back and "Glory" across the thumb. The right glove is the opposite, with "Fairtex" on the thumb and "Glory" across the back.

The same pattern is repeated with the two logos on the wrist straps, while the thumbs have the opposite text from the top of the gloves. In the black and gold font, the gloves look very classy.

Using the Fairtex X Glory Kickboxing Gloves

The Fairtex x Glory kickboxing gloves are supposed to be great all around, and they are. Like I’ve said, I have the 14-ounce version and have done quite a few heavy bag rounds and a lot of sparring rounds, with a bit of pad work for good measure.

On the heavy bag, they provide excellent protection and good feedback, which I need. There is a lot of padding on the knuckles, which absorbs a lot of the impact, but the shape and type of padding still allow me to feel some weight in my punches.

In sparring, they also perform very well. The shape is compact, so you can find openings easier. As I mentioned, these are sleek, and punching with the first two knuckles comes more naturally than in some more puffy and rounder gloves. I like the feel of them for sparring.

On the pads, they would be equally good if it weren't for the thumb. I have not seen any comments on this in other reviews, but I do not like the feeling in the thumb.

You can easily make a tight fist, and the thumb does not get in the way of punching, but on the pads, both my thumbs hurt when I didn't land precisely with the knuckles. The compartment is too tight, and I can feel it squeeze my finger at the nail, resulting in sore thumbs after a long session.

The gloves are offered in all sizes, from 8 ounces to 16 ounces, so that they can be used for everything, from competition to general training to heavy sparring.

This is why we've ranked these gloves #1 best kickboxing gloves.

Price and Competitors

The Fairtex x Glory boxing gloves are an incredible bargain at $119 in the official Fairtex brand store in the USA. They could cost $150, and they are still worth it. Of course, they have some flaws, but I haven't seen any pair without at least some issues at this price.

There are a lot of gloves on the market in this segment. Still, none are specifically targeted at kickboxers, and few offer the quality at this price tag. These may very well be the best bang for the buck for Thai-made gloves.