Fairtex BGV6 & BGV9 Comparison

Recently I bought a pair of Fairtex BGV6 in 14oz for training after I injured my knuckle using some shitty neverlast gloves. After breaking them in on the bag and pad work I realized they are sparring only gloves so rather than continue to use them on bag and pad work I opted to buy a pair of BGV9's as well allowing me to do this comparison of the gloves for both bag/pad work and sparring.

BGV6 14oz

Feel/Fit - The feel and fit of these gloves was great they are quite hard to get on with full wraps and winning NG-2's on though and for some reason without the NG-2's on the padding over the knuckles is quite hard (making it incredibly painful for me with an already existing knuckle strain) to do any training. With the NG-2's on this is hardly an issue. But until I had broken these gloves in the padding inside the glove was uncomfortable.

Crafting - The gloves themselves are superbly crafted although Fairtex made the questionable decision to not include breathing holes on the palm or thumb. Aside from the internal knuckle padding as mentioned above the rest of the padding is amazing and great for protecting your sparring partners face, however I wouldn't go lower than 14 for sparring (being a 63kg fighter this isn't to bad for my sparring partners). The fact that they are genuine leather is a huge plus.

Rating - 7.6/10 the hardness of the internal knuckle padding and the lack of breathing holes are the only major issues I came across.


BGV9 16oz

Feel/Fit - The BGV9's feel fantastic on my hands, even the knuckle injury that is still healing wasn't aggravated while wearing these during training, being bigger gloves they have a little more room for your hand when wearing winning NG-2's and full wraps, I've done roughly 60 rounds of heavy bag work and 30 rounds of pads plus 16 rounds of sparring with these gloves and not once has my hand hurt. The cuff feels a bit long because I am a smaller fighter, but nothing to take away from the feel of the gloves overall.

Crafting - They are beautifully crafted with fantastic leather and superb padding, Fairtex included breathing holes on these gloves and while they are 16oz they still maintain a fairly low profile as most Mexican style gloves do. The internal padding is quite soft with the outer padding being a bit more rigid to soak up the hits on the heavy bag. Fairtex advise not to use these gloves for sparring as they are quite hard compared to the BGV6's while I used them for sparring over around 16 rounds I won't be using them again as the hits did show considerably more wear and tear on my sparring partners face.

Rating - 9.5/10 I would recommend these gloves to anyone who needs a quality all round training gloves, the only thing to stop them being a 10/10 is the fact that for sparring they are too hard even at 16oz to be safe to use if the welbeing of your sparring partner is something you look into.


Overall if you are looking at just a sparring glove get the BGV6 if you are looking for a glove for all round training get the BGV9

 

Top = BGV6
Bottom = BGV9

 

but both gloves are both yellow and black.

 

Changed it

 

Great review Woldog It's been a while since I visited sherdog, I see some new members here. It's great that someone still keeps those reviews coming. It's a shame you're in Austrailia, I'd love to send you some gear to review on MMA Gear Addict.

 

I had BGL7s which are the lace-up version of BGV9. I only used them in sparring when at rival clubs. They are super super dense and hard. Roughest padding on a glove I've ever had. Great review and they're great gloves in their own way too for those that like that dense feel. My fingers were a bit too long for them to make a fist properly unfortunately otherwise I'd have kept them just for sparring jerks or at different clubs. There are plenty of 10oz gloves I'd rather get hit by than a 16oz BGL7/BGV9


edit: found a post by someone saying that BGL7/BGV9 are not identical and BGL7 has harder padding

 

Yeah the BGV9's are absolutely horrific for sparring, but Fairtex themselves say they are for long bag and pad use and not for sparring. I hear you on the long fingers issue though. the BGV9 is slightly shorter than the BGV6 because they added an extra grip bar at the fingertips

 

Thanks for the detailed review, Woldog. Can you give an update of how the knuckle padding is holding up on these gloves? I'm actually a little confused by your initial comparison of the padding - the BGV6 padding is hard on knuckles but soft enough for sparring, while the BGV9 padding is soft on knuckles but too hard for sparring? Is this correct? This seems counter intuitive.

Are your BGV9s the new "Minor Change" version? I have a pair of the old style 12oz BGV9 for bag work but the dense padding causes knuckle soreness and the hand compartment is too small to fit knuckle guards. I am trying to figure out if the newer softer padding would be better. I was thinking that getting the softer sparring style gloves may be an option, but if they have dense padding over the knuckles then this is probably not a good idea.

Also, could you comment if there is any reduction in wrist support on the BGV6 due the smaller angled wrist strap? Is it more difficult to secure than a traditional strap?

 

Hey mate, the hardness in the BGV6 is just in the hand compartment, It needed to be broken in, the padding on the contact zone of the glove was soft and pillowy once broken in there are no problems with them at all. The BGV9 padding inside is very comfortable while the outter padding is dense and shock absorbent. The knuckle padding in both gloves is holding up very well.

My BGV9's are the Minor Change version, I believe they are better than the originals, the padding is more thought out and feels a lot better on your hands.

The wrist support in the BGV6's are fine, the strap if you ask me secures them just as well as a traditional strap and if you ask me it feels a little bit tighter because of how it is angled down to one tight area. No harder to secure than a traditional strap.

 

Thanks for the update. Would you say that the knuckle padding of the BGV6 is equally as protective as that of the BGV9, just softer? I mostly don't have discomfort while using the original BGV9's, but then my hands are sore for the rest of the day after heavy bag work - so I am trying to avoid this. Also, is it any easier to open your palm in the BGV6 since the padding is less dense?

 

bgv1 breathable is very good for pad work and heavy bag also very compact gloves

 

It's easier to open your palm but at the same time, I don't have any soreness, I'd say the BGV6 are protective but only for sparring. You can't use them for bag or pad work as they'll wear out fast. I've got a broken knuckle right now so I haven't been able to use them for a few weeks. Have you tried altering your wrap style, as you really shouldn't have sore hands no matter what gloves you're using.

 

can we use bgv9 for sparring?

 

You can but your sparring partner will hate you..... Fairtex do not recommend them for sparing as they are so hard.

 

Actually İ'm looking for my sparring partner he was a olympic boxer
he started k-1 style kick boxing one year ago for fight
it must be carryiing 2 gloves at gym but so many things in his bag headgear,shinguard etc so
which one do you advice bgv1-bgv5-bgv6-bgv9 for all purpose?
He has a twins bgvl6 gloves but he is not happy with it

 

For heavybag, padwork, BGV9's are great but they're pretty hard for sparring and can do some damage to your partner. it's hard to find a good mix between general work and sparring gloves in one.

 

Does anyone know what the minor change with the BGV9 is? I ordered a pair off Amazon, and am wondering how you can tell whether or not it's just an old BGV9 or not. Got it from a seller fulfilled by Amazon with good ratings, so I think it'll be fine, but wanted to make sure I'm getting the right pair of gloves.

 

I can't recall exactly, I believe it was something to do with the thumb.

 

I found a thread with pics of the new and old one, so everything's ok. The wrist strap is different between the two so it's easy to spot.

 

Ohh I thought it was a change to the strap they attached the thumb with. My bad.