Raja Premium Boxing Gloves 12 oz. Review

qaustria

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This is my first review so be gentle and don't hate!

I purchased the gloves when they were onsale on MuayThaiFactory's website around October last year and decided to break them in before I give an official review.

I had been eyeing the premium gloves for quite some time before October and was hoping I could find it cheaper somewhere else. Fortunately they had gone onsale for about a month and I couldn't pass up the chance. I received the gloves from Thailand (to Los Angles) in about a week. Before this purchase, the gloves I had in rotation were Triumph United Thai Silencers, Fairtex BGV1, Fairtex BGV5, and Boon.

**MuayThaiFactory's website states that the premium gloves, "...is made of superb material. The leather and padding inside is a premium grade and better than that of other normal Muay Thai equipment." - in my honest opinion it could not be any more true.

Construction

Firstly, this review is about the Premium Cow Leather line of gloves and not the Premium Lambskin Leather line of gloves.

I am by no means an expert in types of leather and all I can say is that these gloves feel "rich" and would last for a very long time before they rip or break down. It is soft to the touch and seems stronger and a bit thicker than Twins, Boons, Fairtex and the regular Raja Gloves leather. I do not have a scale to weigh the gloves precisely but they do definitely weigh more than 12 ounces even after some being broken in. They do not seem top heavy and like many traidtional style thai gloves, the weight is distributed almost evenly.

The stitching is superb and tight. Double-stitching all around and the only single stitching is on the seam indentation on the strap. It's been six months since I've used these gloves and the velcro is still strong unlike what some people experienced years ago. I do not have to fiddle with it like I had to constantly do with my Fairtex gloves. To quote Taskmaster99's review "The inner liner is a satin type as usual with no excess for bunching" which couldn't be any more accurate. The fingertips area do show some sign of wear but all my gloves after a few months of constant heavy use have those and it hasn't faded the color nor does it look like it will crack in the near future. (Not sure if that is normal. I don't know why my gloves always end up like that but I've never had a glove crack open ... ever! Although they look like Twins gloves, they aren't as wide and narrow down towards the velcro area.

Padding

The padding at first was definitely dense although the break-in period for the padding was fairly quick. I noticed it started to soften up and shape into my hands within a couple of weeks. After six months, (I'm not sure if this is a good analogy) they feel like a brand new pair of Twins gloves before they start to soften up. Soft but not too soft, just right I guess … well at least it is for me. We always end with light sparring (50%) during our regular classes at the Muay Thai gym and although I also have a pair of 14 oz. Triumph United Death Adders, I tend to just go with these gloves and I have had no complaints. (Now I know some of you will say sparring with 12 oz. gloves, that's just wrong! ...but like I said it's just light technical sparring. If I wanted to spar harder, I could join the fighter's training class but my abused, closing in on 40 yrs. old body wouldn't like it.)

Fit

As stated above, the gloves have molded to my hands quite well. The pocket isn't tight nor is excessive. I do not have large or chubby hands by any measure but I believe somebody with a frame who is a bit more stocky may have to go up a size (I'm 5'11, 170 lbs on the leaner side). The gloves are quite supple as well. The pocket let's me open up to clinch easily as if these gloves were made for the clinch. The thumb placement and overall shape of the gloves let's me make a natural fist with ease which I couldn't naturally do with the Fairtex BGV1 and Boons. The length of the cuffs are much like what you would find on a pair of Twins, not too short like on the Fairtex BGV1 and not long like say, Boons or Top Kings. It works perfect for me as I am a fan of the traditional style Thai gloves and not a fan of long cuffs at all.

Performance

Coming from a background where I used wear bag gloves all day unless it's sparring, these gloves do the trick for my abused hands. Sometimes rolled punches are inevitable and more so with rounder gloves, the only one or two times when I've rolled a punched with these is because my partner is new and doesn't know how to hold the mitts correctly. I hardly ever wrap my hands (I know, I know here we go again) and the reason is that I have a dialysis shunt (think of a super vein) and wraps, when done correctly, just put to much pressure on my vein to where it becomes bothersome and I'm afraid it might clot. Even though I do not do dialysis anymore, I still wouldn't want to injure my vein just in case. Honestly, I have had no problems hitting 100% on the mitts, pads(even crappy, cheap tightly compacted foam ones), nor the heavy bag. The gloves offer enough protection even without the wraps. Even in light sparring sometimes you will catch someone pretty good in the face but I have never had a complaint of these hurting anybody. (opposite reaction from the BGV5 - ack!) I can honestly say I can wear these gloves all day without it bothering me or until they start to reek of a dead cow.

Conclusion

I know everybody is different with different taste so I will by no means suggest that these gloves are the best gloves on the market. As far as I am concerned, these are the perfect gloves for me. The fit, feel and quality is all that I could ask for and more. Admittedly, I have had a few people admire them due to the craftsmanship and just overall feel. I am extremely happy with the purchase and hope to purchase another pair of Raja Premium gloves in a different color palette in the near future.

Thank you for reading.
Pictures upon receipt in the mail:

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raja2_zps1400e665.jpg


Raja3_zps48310c44.jpg


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Raja31_zps77810a4c.jpg


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Comparison to Contender International Boxing Gloves 12 oz.

Raja7_zpscbdfb46e.jpg


Comparison to Fairtex BGV5 14 oz.

Raja5_zps5f067595.jpg


Gloves after Break-in and Comparisons:

Comparison to New Raja "Regular" Gloves 12 oz., New Raja Mesh Gloves 10 oz., New Twins Special Air Flow 12 oz., Triumph United Thai Silencers 12 oz. and Practically New Triumph United Death Adders 14 oz.

Raja11_zps58a01552.jpg


Raja10_zps53aaf286.jpg


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Great review man, thanks! Between you and Taskmaster99's reviews, I'm really starting to get interested in Raja's!
How does the hand compartment compare to Twins? Pretty similar dimensions/feel? Thanks!
 
Hands down an excellent review!!! Those premium Raja gloves put mine to shame....lol. Love all the comparison pics.
 
Yeah, thanks for the review! I have regular Raja's i use for padwork, and am seriously considering a pair of the premiums to replace my Fairtex BGV5s for sparring.
 
Harukaze, I have a feeling I met or trained with you before, are you in Los Angeles? Anyways, The P\premium and the regular gloves' hand compartment is closest to Twins gloves as far as Thai brands are concerned. I can open up for the clinch though a bit easier on the Rajas. I also like the bar better on the Raja's for some reason. The velcro and wrist area seem to be easier to manipulate and tighten around by skinny wrist than the Twins.

Taskmaster99: The premiums are nice but the regulars are nice as well. I sold a pair of the regulars to my gym mate last week and he also has a new pair of Twins and said he liked the Rajas a lot better.

DC413, I'm thinking of picking up a pair of 14 or 16's in the future as well for sparring. I like how the padding feels when it's broken in. So far only MuayThaistuff, MuayThaiArt,and Infightstyle are the only ones who seem to carry the premiums on hand.

I'll probably end up selling the New Raja Regulars and the new Twins Air Mesh (awesome idea btw where they push the mesh on these) to fund another pair of premiums.

Comparison to pair of Boons (poopoo color) 10 ounces I used as bag gloves last year:

Raja18_zps51ec7973.jpg


What do you guys think about these color palettes?

raja19_zpsaf38f4f7.jpg


Raja20_zps7b2ce0a3.jpg
 
Harukaze, I have a feeling I met or trained with you before, are you in Los Angeles? Anyways, The P\premium and the regular gloves' hand compartment is closest to Twins gloves as far as Thai brands are concerned. I can open up for the clinch though a bit easier on the Rajas. I also like the bar better on the Raja's for some reason. The velcro and wrist area seem to be easier to manipulate and tighten around by skinny wrist than the Twins.

Taskmaster99: The premiums are nice but the regulars are nice as well. I sold a pair of the regulars to my gym mate last week and he also has a new pair of Twins and said he liked the Rajas a lot better.

DC413, I'm thinking of picking up a pair of 14 or 16's in the future as well for sparring. I like how the padding feels when it's broken in. So far only MuayThaistuff, MuayThaiArt,and Infightstyle are the only ones who seem to carry the premiums on hand.

I'll probably end up selling the New Raja Regulars and the new Twins Air Mesh (awesome idea btw where they push the mesh on these) to fund another pair of premiums.

Comparison to pair of Boons (poopoo color) 10 ounces I used as bag gloves last year:

Raja18_zps51ec7973.jpg


What do you guys think about these color palettes?

raja19_zpsaf38f4f7.jpg


Raja20_zps7b2ce0a3.jpg

Nice to see you have Poo Poo Boons also...lol.


The Blue and Gold Raja's in the bottom pic are sic!!!!!!
 
Harukaze, I have a feeling I met or trained with you before, are you in Los Angeles? Anyways, The P\premium and the regular gloves' hand compartment is closest to Twins gloves as far as Thai brands are concerned. I can open up for the clinch though a bit easier on the Rajas. I also like the bar better on the Raja's for some reason. The velcro and wrist area seem to be easier to manipulate and tighten around by skinny wrist than the Twins.

Whoa, no way haha! Yeah, I'm actually in Orange County currently! Dude, definitely PM me please, I'm curious to see if we have indeed trained together at some point or if maybe I bought something off you from Craigslist or something LOL!

Great comparison between the Raja and Twins, you've really sold me on the Raja's (especially with that photo of blue and gold ones haha)! I'm a big fan of Twins and Fairtex, but I might have to add Raja to the list soon -- that settles it, off to Rajadamnern Stadium next BKK trip! :icon_chee
 
great review and excellent comparissons. I have to say though that for some reason, raja gloves just do nothing for me.
 
great review and excellent comparissons. I have to say though that for some reason, raja gloves just do nothing for me.

Hey bud, I know we're on the same frequency regarding Twins and Fairtex gloves -- what's your take on Raja's compared to our favorites? :D
 
Hey bud, I know we're on the same frequency regarding Twins and Fairtex gloves -- what's your take on Raja's compared to our favorites? :D


well I have heard they have improved over time but the pairs I tried had poor stitching, hard padding and they just never broke in properly for me. Also, the leather cracked pretty bad, fairly early on the pairs I had.

just issues I dont have wheith fairtex and twins.
 
well I have heard they have improved over time but the pairs I tried had poor stitching, hard padding and they just never broke in properly for me. Also, the leather cracked pretty bad, fairly early on the pairs I had.

just issues I dont have wheith fairtex and twins.

Right on, thanks for the info, man!
 
I hear you Ironwolf, it's not for everyone I guess. I still love Twins gloves but for the last 10 years couldn't get Fairtex to fit me right. Don't get me wrong my, I'm not a Fairtex hater, I exclusively use the SP5 shinguards. Just for kicks, here's my first pair of 12 oz. Twins made in 2003 that I used for 5 years before the velcro totally gave out.

raja21_zps2588ee7a.jpg


Looks like they changed the shape, size and length over the years. The newer ones are still great gloves though.
 
Great review mate, keep up the great work!

All those comparisonpics are very helpful and good quality too.

Edit: I had a pair of those same blue Twins gloves with the flames, they were very nice.
 
Not sure if people in Australia use the term the same way, but did people ever call you "flamer" when you had the gloves on?
 
that stitching across the knuckles looks like it could cut someone in sparring.
 
The Raja boxing gloves are a piece of shit. We bought Raja's wholesale boxing gloves and 20% of the total had stains, deformations and breakages. 20%!!!

Customers have complained that they have been broken just a month after they started using them.

The manufacturer? Their customer service is the worst. We have sent you photos and videos of the problems. It's been 3 months and they do not give us a satisfactory solution.

Do not throw your money away with this mark.
 
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