- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
- Messages
- 4,269
- Reaction score
- 9
Updated 10/22/13
Updates in yellow
Greetings Once again!
Its time to review the Rival ABS-M "Bag Mitt"
First of all, let me tell you, I would NEVER use these on a Heavy Bag. I would reserve them strictly for light bag work outs: Double ended, or speed bag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECpX_KzI-08&feature=player_embedded
The reason I state that is because the owner of Rival says to use it on The heavy bag, he says his modern day fighters use it.
Here is the reason why, the modern day boxing glove has come along way since its inception. There is absolutely no reason to risk injury just because old school fighters did things a certain way back then. I truly believe wearing old school gloves will not improve any sort of performance but rather simply increase the risk of injury.
I personally think he's nuts! I don't use the most protective gloves but I can just imagine my metacarpals screaming if I hit the heavy bag at 100% force.
The gloves offer almost no shock absorption, I think it is a bad idea hitting anything dense, to include mitts using these gloves. I feel for shadow boxing these would make add just the right amount of weight than training in just wraps. For speed bag work its the same thing, it adds just enough weight your shoulders will get a significant work out without sacrificing the speed.
These gloves normally run $29.95. I got them for $20. I don't even know where to start with these things to be honest.
"The Good"
The gloves are slightly curved outward which allows you to make a nice, tight, straight fist. A big plus is that your thumb goes into its natural position when making a fist. The Velcro is pretty well done IMO. They are pretty lightweight.
The gloves also sport a grip bar which IMO allow the best maximum clenched fist especially considering it is the MOST low profile "Glove" you'll come across. Other than having a wrapped hand this will be the closest you'll come to a true fist
"The Bad"
Realistically, I would not use these gloves except for a light bag work, as stated above.
The leather is OK. It smells nice but it doesn't have the feel like my other gloves do, Its a bit hard, a bit rigid. They come with Mesh palms, but I've never been a fan of them I prefer regular old ventilation holes. The inside while it looks nice its screams cheap to me.
Don't listen to Russ Abner, the guy is a salesman 1st and foremost. These gloves are not at all protective, but again, they do fine for light bag work or shadow boxing.
"The Ugly"
These gloves ironically need break in time. Don't ask me how or why. They just do, trust me.
The gloves require a thought process to use them to be honest, unlike other gloves you don't NEED a reason to use them, its there already. The biggest question is,"If I have bag gloves, I have sparring gloves... what do I need these for?" You simply don't. They are a novelty or have a throw back nostalgic feel to them, nothing more.
Overall:
I only bought these gloves because I had bought the Rival Guerreros at the same time and I LOVE those gloves. These on the other hand even on sale I would still have to pass on. I would value these gloves at like $5.00. They just don't bring anything other than "Hey Im wearing a Rival" glove to the table. Hand safety is the utmost importance and again unless you are doing light bag work outs I wouldn't bother with this glove.
To be honest, I was brutally harsh on these gloves. No one would simply buy these gloves as their sole and lone pair. Again, these gloves are a throwback and a novelty. You buy these KNOWING that.
Score: F or 50%
Adjusted Score: D- / 62%
I mean I use these on my double end quite a bit, so they do get a lot of usage, I love them for that, but I still wrap up anyhow and I just cycle through stations for drilling. But for the casual boxer, these are worthless. For the Regular user, unless you are like myself I would never use these on anything but a double-end and maybe a speed bag if you have a grant/reyes 100 dollar speed bag and don't want hand sweat all over it. I got these on sale and they still aren't worth it. At regular price, I would 100% pass on them.
I bumped up the score because they do add some weight while training, a novelty of a glove yes... but it still does help you improve. While the quality did NOT boast outstandingness, I felt the quality did not lack either. However, being a throwback or an obsolete item, I feel you will buy this because of that. I still think these gloves aren't really worth more than $10. I know in the original review I said $5 but realistically nothing cost $5 nowadays.
For those that do not like to read (
Updates in yellow
Greetings Once again!
Its time to review the Rival ABS-M "Bag Mitt"
First of all, let me tell you, I would NEVER use these on a Heavy Bag. I would reserve them strictly for light bag work outs: Double ended, or speed bag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECpX_KzI-08&feature=player_embedded
The reason I state that is because the owner of Rival says to use it on The heavy bag, he says his modern day fighters use it.
Here is the reason why, the modern day boxing glove has come along way since its inception. There is absolutely no reason to risk injury just because old school fighters did things a certain way back then. I truly believe wearing old school gloves will not improve any sort of performance but rather simply increase the risk of injury.
I personally think he's nuts! I don't use the most protective gloves but I can just imagine my metacarpals screaming if I hit the heavy bag at 100% force.
The gloves offer almost no shock absorption, I think it is a bad idea hitting anything dense, to include mitts using these gloves. I feel for shadow boxing these would make add just the right amount of weight than training in just wraps. For speed bag work its the same thing, it adds just enough weight your shoulders will get a significant work out without sacrificing the speed.
These gloves normally run $29.95. I got them for $20. I don't even know where to start with these things to be honest.
"The Good"
The gloves are slightly curved outward which allows you to make a nice, tight, straight fist. A big plus is that your thumb goes into its natural position when making a fist. The Velcro is pretty well done IMO. They are pretty lightweight.
The gloves also sport a grip bar which IMO allow the best maximum clenched fist especially considering it is the MOST low profile "Glove" you'll come across. Other than having a wrapped hand this will be the closest you'll come to a true fist
"The Bad"
Realistically, I would not use these gloves except for a light bag work, as stated above.
The leather is OK. It smells nice but it doesn't have the feel like my other gloves do, Its a bit hard, a bit rigid. They come with Mesh palms, but I've never been a fan of them I prefer regular old ventilation holes. The inside while it looks nice its screams cheap to me.
Don't listen to Russ Abner, the guy is a salesman 1st and foremost. These gloves are not at all protective, but again, they do fine for light bag work or shadow boxing.
"The Ugly"
These gloves ironically need break in time. Don't ask me how or why. They just do, trust me.
The gloves require a thought process to use them to be honest, unlike other gloves you don't NEED a reason to use them, its there already. The biggest question is,"If I have bag gloves, I have sparring gloves... what do I need these for?" You simply don't. They are a novelty or have a throw back nostalgic feel to them, nothing more.
Overall:
I only bought these gloves because I had bought the Rival Guerreros at the same time and I LOVE those gloves. These on the other hand even on sale I would still have to pass on. I would value these gloves at like $5.00. They just don't bring anything other than "Hey Im wearing a Rival" glove to the table. Hand safety is the utmost importance and again unless you are doing light bag work outs I wouldn't bother with this glove.
To be honest, I was brutally harsh on these gloves. No one would simply buy these gloves as their sole and lone pair. Again, these gloves are a throwback and a novelty. You buy these KNOWING that.
Score: F or 50%
Adjusted Score: D- / 62%
I mean I use these on my double end quite a bit, so they do get a lot of usage, I love them for that, but I still wrap up anyhow and I just cycle through stations for drilling. But for the casual boxer, these are worthless. For the Regular user, unless you are like myself I would never use these on anything but a double-end and maybe a speed bag if you have a grant/reyes 100 dollar speed bag and don't want hand sweat all over it. I got these on sale and they still aren't worth it. At regular price, I would 100% pass on them.
I bumped up the score because they do add some weight while training, a novelty of a glove yes... but it still does help you improve. While the quality did NOT boast outstandingness, I felt the quality did not lack either. However, being a throwback or an obsolete item, I feel you will buy this because of that. I still think these gloves aren't really worth more than $10. I know in the original review I said $5 but realistically nothing cost $5 nowadays.
For those that do not like to read (
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