Zeus Deportes Custom 16oz. Lace-Up Grant-Style Training Glove Review

hangulmalmotayo

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Zeus Deportes 16oz. Custom Lace-up Grant Style Training Gloves

[UPDATE: 11/21/2017: DO NOT PURCHASE GLOVES FROM DORIAN BASHAW/SCARPHE/ZEUS GLOVES. HE HAS TAKEN MONEY, CLOSED HIS PAYPAL ACCOUNT, AND DISAPPEARED.]


This is a review for Scarphe’s Zeus Deportes custom boxing gloves.

Time table for order:
Initial inquiry about the gloves: 11/5/2016
Decided what I wanted and paid via PayPal 11/8/2016.
The gloves were finished and shipped on 12/7/2016.
Arrived on 12/21. I chose the slowest shipping option, which was about $15—it was supposed to take 30 days, but it took about two weeks.
In terms of payment, Scarphe gave me a 50-50 option, where I pay half initially and the other half prior to shipment. I opted to pay all at once since I basically trust Scarphe and I didn’t want to pay transfer fees twice.

Details of my custom order:
Colors: Black, red, and white (typical Grant stock colors).
Cotton on bottom cuff.
Polyester satin liner (instead of grey canvas(?) liner)
Padding: I asked for responsive padding (pop), specifically to be used on the heavy bag.
Weight: I requested 16oz. gloves. Scarphe told me that they would weigh a bit more with the denser padding. Each glove weighs slightly more than 19oz. If I could re-do this, I would probably order the 14oz. and expect something close to 16oz. with the same dense padding option. I have been told that the regular Grant-style padding would cause the gloves to be true to weight.

Stitching/Craftsmanship: along with the high quality leather, the Craftmanship is top notch. I have so far found no flaws in the stitching anywhere on the glove. The welted seams look really great. I would feel confident putting these up against Grants in terms of leather quality and craftsmanship any day. The leather of the gloves, as evident in the photos, are very high quality. They definitely have a strong leather smell and give the impression of being thick and durable. The leather is probably higher quality compared to a lot of other gloves I’ve had. I’d compare them to the Sabas Triple Cuffs.

Logo: I hate ugly logos with tacky brand names. I also think a lot of gloves over do it with their logos (e.g., snakes on gloves). I am a huge fan of simplicity. “Zeus”—four letters, an ancient Greek god. That’s pretty simple. And it’s bad ass. So A+ to Scarphe for a great brand name and logo.

Padding: The padding is dense and responsive. Out of the gloves I’ve tried so far, I would compare it to the Sabas TCs, but with the significant difference that these have a much less broken in feel and seem to be much more durable. I have yet to experience punching through the padding (and I don’t get the impression that I ever will). The padding on these gloves are really, really durable, and I imagine that I will be able to use these gloves on the heavy bag for a few years.

Break-in process: It’s been two weeks, well over a hundred rounds on the heavy bag. I have blasted the bag real hard with these and the padding shows no signs of wear—not even indentations. The thumb seam was initially tight, and a real pain in the ass, but that’s basically resolved now. The gloves feel good and it is very easy to make a fist. The seam where the finger tips are has a piece of foam that covers the ridges of the leather where they’re sewn to the palm side (if that makes sense); I am not a fan of that piece of foam. It was really annoying at the beginning, now I’m used to it, but I do feel like it will tear soon. I already feel some ridges forming in the foam that indicate a tear is imminent. When I order another pair from Scarphe, I will ask that this part be made of a different material. Apparently, this foam is distinctive to the Grant-style gloves and not Scarphe's other gloves. Incidentally, I have heard that Grant gloves have something similar at the end of the fingertips.

Hand-compartment: for the 16oz. gloves, I’d say it’s more spacious than an average 16oz. glove. Comparable, probably, to traditional Cleto Reyes training gloves in terms of the amount of space there is. There is less of a sense, however, of my hand moving around in the compartment than with some Cleto Reyes that I have tried. Also, I have longer fingers, and that has not been an issue with these gloves (whereas they have been in some other brands). The thumb placement is not awkward like the Reyes, even if the thumb seam is tight as hell for the first few days.

Liner: The Satin lining is definitely not like Sabas. It is not a silky soft kind of liner. Unlike some other gloves that have loose lining, the lining on these gloves are pretty tightly sewn to the glove. So there’s no issue of the lining bunching up inside the glove. I like that. I wouldn’t mind a softer liner, but I’ve had soft lining rip on me, and I’d rather this liner than that. It doesn’t bother me at all. There was a point earlier when I was breaking the gloves in that the liner was rubbing against a knuckle on the join of my index finger and causing some abrasions, but that has not happened since then.

Performance on the bag: I specifically ordered these gloves for the heavy bag. They feel great on the bag. Once broken in, a tight fist position feels very natural. The gloves are somewhat open when they’re left to themselves (typically, gloves tend to be in a semi-closed position when there’s no hand in them). You would think that this would mean that it would slightly more difficult to make a fist in these, but that is not the case at all. Also, it feels good to land punches on your top two knuckles rather than on the flush part of your fingers. They pop when you land well on the bag. They are very responsive (in part, I think, to the fact that you can make a pretty good fist in them).

Durability: I have complained about the durability of a lot of gloves on this forum. I have had very nice , high quality gloves last me for a few months before the padding bottoming out or (another pair) literally forming a hole where my two knuckles are. I have experienced this in a matter of weeks of using a brand new pair of gloves. This issue is responsible for me requesting the extra durable padding on these gloves. I do not foresee having any issues with durability on these gloves. Even when I punch real hard, my knuckles do not go through the padding. It’s not necessarily because the padding is stiff, but because it seems like a denser material. Feels great, actually.

Protection: I have not had any bruising or knuckle issues with these gloves. The padding is firmer and denser, and I think because of that super protective. Obviously, these are not like Winnings or even like Cleto Reyes.

Wrist support: I don’t have wrist issues, so I don’t pay attention to wrist support. That said, I would say that the wrist protection on the lace-ups is really good. Even when they’re not tied that tight, your wrist feels pretty secure.

Who will like these gloves?
- people who want to get a legit Grant-experience (high quality hand made gloves from Mexico) without spending an arm and a leg will really enjoy these.
- If you like Sabas Triple Cuffs, you will like these. They require some breaking in, unlike the TCs, but they will certainly last a lot longer.
- If you generally like Mexican-style gloves, you will like these.
- If you are looking for a durable glove in which you can make a good fist and get great response on the bag.
- If you have longer fingers and have had trouble with Reyes on this account.

I plan on ordering a second pair from Scarphe. Here’s what I will do differently:
- order a Grant-style glove without the denser padding so that I can use them for sparring.
- request different material at the end of the finger tips than the foam that is used (something more durable).
- For the heavy bag, if I were to do it again I would order a 14oz. with the dense padding as I have now and expect something closer to 16oz.
- I would be more insistent on the weight of the gloves.

TL;DR:
Leather: 10
Stitching: 10
Padding: 10
Response/Performance: 10
Fist Formation: 10 (before it’s broken in, I’d give it a 7, but who cares about that)
Hand compartment: 8 (I wish it were slightly less roomy)
Weight: 7 (my own fault for getting the denser padding, but now I know for the future)

Would you recommend this product to a friend? Yes.

Will you be doing business again? F'sho. [EDIT (11/21/2017): No, never again.]
 
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Nice review.

Just a few questions.

1.Is the Sabas TC refer to the Pro Series TC? Not the Super Soft TC right?

2.With denser padding, any issue with lack of shock absorption? Eg: Feeling the impact on the joints more.

It'd also be nice if you have any pictures next to the TU DA, kinda curious how much bigger they are (since that is the mutual gloves we have) .
 
Nice review.

Just a few questions.

1.Is the Sabas TC refer to the Pro Series TC? Not the Super Soft TC right?

2.With denser padding, any issue with lack of shock absorption? Eg: Feeling the impact on the joints more.

It'd also be nice if you have any pictures next to the TU DA, kinda curious how much bigger they are (since that is the mutual gloves we have) .
Great questions.

1. It's the Triple Cuff (Pro Series), though I only have experience with the earlier models. The leather on the Sabas Triple Cuffs are much thicker than the SuperSofts. The Zeus gloves are like the former, not like the latter.

2. I have not felt any issues with lack of shock absorption. I will keep this in mind when I try them again, but that has not been an issue so far.

Once I get home, I will take comparison photos with the Sabas TC, Cleto Reyes, and the TU DAs. I will say that the TU DAs are really only comparable on the basis of the color scheme/welted seams. The leather, the padding, and size/compactness are vastly different, in my opinion. I have used the DAs a few times now and can definitely feel my knuckles through the padding when I use them on the heavy bag. The leather on the TU DAs seem to be less leathery... They sometimes have the appearance of plastic rather than leather (especially the red parts). Great gloves, but it's hard to compare the two apart from appearance, in my opinion.
 
Yeh, fully noted. Will look forward to those photos. ;)
 
Here are the promised photos. All the gloves in the comparison photos are 16oz.

IMG_4211.jpg IMG_4213.jpg IMG_4212.jpg IMG_4214.jpg IMG_4374.jpg IMG_4375.jpg IMG_4376.jpg IMG_4378.jpg
 
NICE!

And actually they're not big at all. Damn I have too many gloves under my radar to buy.
 
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The Reyes are 16oz in those pictures as well right? great reviews
 
Lol. How hard is the padding compare to the DAs ? Also, is the hand compartment longer ?
Short answer is yes to both. In terms of the padding, it's a different material. @scarphe can probably specify as to what material it is, but I'd venture to guess that it's some type of dense latex... The DAs seem to be spongier.

The hand compartment is longer—though I don't know whether it's by a lot. The DAs seem to just be compact in general, but they stretch out so I don't feel like the hand compartment is necessarily too short or too tight—it's just a snug fit. The Zeus gloves are not snug. I don't use NG-2s or any extra padding with my wraps and I feel like there is a decent amount of room. It would probably feel better with NG-2s, though. But they're already 19oz. so I don't want to add weight. Plus, the knuckle padding is sufficient. Despite the amount of room, when I make a fist, there's no room between my knuckles and the inside compartment (I've experienced this with some gloves with big hand compartments). So that's good.
 
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Thank you Hangulmamotayo for the review and I'm glad to read that the finger compartment was good since I too have long fingers.
 
Compared to my Winning-inspired pair of gloves, these actually seem to be more shock absorbent. It might be the extra 5 ounces, but that's that.

Was going to sell them to get a lighter pair, but after going another 15 rounds with them, I will keep them.
 
Do they have that 3rd or 4th layer/ the little piece around the knuckles section? Or straight 2or3 full layers? (If you know what I mean)
 
Do they have that 3rd layer/ the little piece around the knuckles section? Or straight 2/3 full layers? (If you know what I mean)
I know what you mean. I'll have to check later. My guess is that they do but I'm not certain.
 
So I've probably racked a little less than 200 rounds on the gloves now.

Some updates, mostly positive except the last:
- the pressure from the thumb seam is not an issue at all anymore.
- the foam padding on the tip of the fingers remains intact despite the incipient tears. I think I may have already mentioned this, but despite my initial complaints, I actually am not bothered by the material at all anymore.
- there is zero indication of the padding/foam in the knuckle area flattening or giving out. There are no signals that the padding will form indentations where my first two knuckles are. I have yet to punch through the padding (though I don't think that it will happen with this type of material).
- they feel really comfortable now that they are broken-in.
- still feel sturdy and perform very well. A great and durable glove on the bag.
- the additional 3 ounces have not really been a problem—I'm currently discussing a second pair from Scarphe for sparring.
- this is something I noticed early on, but forgot to mention: the color of the leather seems to get onto other things. To be specific, there are black marks on my punching bag from the glove, and the white part of the glove has black-ish marks from the black leather (you can kind of see them in some of the comparison photos). Additionally, there are some areas of the glove beginning to show a slightly lighter black from wear.
 
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- this is something I noticed early on, but forgot to mention: the color of the leather seems to get onto other things. To be specific, there are black marks on my punching bag from the glove, and the white part of the glove has black-ish marks from the black leather (you can kind of see them in some of the comparison photos). Additionally, there are some areas of the glove beginning to show a slightly lighter black from wear.

I had a pair of Grant gloves where the colour ran as well; red colouring on the white of the glove and laces ended up completely dyed red, so I feel like that almost makes yours more legit somehow.
 
I had a pair of Grant gloves where the colour ran as well; red colouring on the white of the glove and laces ended up completely dyed red, so I feel like that almost makes yours more legit somehow.
You know, I did a half-assed search to see if this was an issue among Grant gloves but didn't find anything. So that's good to hear. haha.

I'm wondering if I should just get white gloves from Scarphe next to prevent this.
 
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