PunchTown is another up-and-coming company from the United Kingdom and I was fortunate enough to review their Fracture BXR Pro Boxing Gloves.
New on the market and incorporating the unique ‘Fracture’ design, FRACTURE BXR Pro gloves are hard to beat in terms of style, quality and comfort. With ultra comfortable inner lining which helps dispel perspiration, extra deep wrist strap for maximum support and an additional thumb lock feature, these are a truly excellent addition to any serious fighter’s kit bag.
Ordering: Got these from Made4Fighters.co.uk — Nestor answered any questions that I had regarding the product and is a real nice dude. They shipped this out the day I placed my order and got it the next day. Awesome customer service and awesome delivery times.
First Impressions: Pleasant surprise that these gloves came with a carrying case which is always a plus. I pulled these out of the bag and upon first glance, these gloves looked pretty big for 14oz gloves. One thing I also noticed is that the leather seemed to be synthetic. I was glad to be proven wrong.
Aesthetics and Construction: If you would ask me, the “fracture” design on these gloves a bit over the top although that is how PunchTown did mention on their site that they wanted to come across as bold and they’ve done a pretty great job in achieving that so far.
As for the technicalities of the printing itself, it is dyed on the actual leather and not screenprinted so I really don’t see any wear on the Fracture design at all if that’s anything that you’re worried about.
With regards to the quality of the leather, I initially thought that it was made out of synthetic leather due to the smell and thickness of it. Though, after confirming with Darren from Punchtown, I’ve found that they are indeed 100% genuine leather. Here’s what Darren had to say:
They are genuine leather. They use a 0.9mm – 1mm leather because it has to stretch over the Injection Foam Inner to maintain a good shape. The dye on the leather is quite potent in smell and does overpower the natural leather smell. Also, because of the stretched nature of the leather, it also loses some of the texturing that is applied to many leathers and so appears smoother.
Well, there goes all my speculations regarding the leather. Though, the few millimeters in leather haven’t proven to be detrimental to the quality of the glove at all. I’ve used these gloves for about a month and they have held up pretty damn well.
The PunchTown BXR Pro Boxing Gloves are well-padded in areas that they’re supposed to, coming off as more of a Western style glove as it does have a fully-attached thumb. It features a padded cuff, and padding on most of the palm with most of it on the bottom of the palm when held horizontally. This glove also features an attached thumb These gloves are also mostly double-stitched in “stress” areas and as I’ve mentioned, I’ve been using these gloves for about a month and they still literally look as good as new.
Fit: The fit on this glove is great. The inner lining is one of the most comfortable I’ve ever experienced on a glove. I would consider my hands to be a tad bit small and using 180″ wraps, these gloves are still a bit snug but anything shorter will suffice. If you’ve got relatively normal sized or bigger hands, definitely go for the 16oz version of the PunchTown BXR gloves.
The cuffs on these gloves are pretty long to the point that with the glove on, it reaches until about half of my forearm. Take that as you may but I personally do love the protection provided by these gloves. As mentioned, the whole cuff is padded and that doubles as both comfort and security of keeping the glove on.
Training: Like most gloves, the padding was a bit stiff at first but after a good month of use, they have softened to an adequate level for both the giver and the receiver. Making a fist with this glove isn’t a problem as it does have an evident grip bar and it is pre-curved. However, I’ve come across a bit of problems when in the clinch as the ability to open your hands, as foreseen, is limited due to the pre-curved nature of the glove; after all, they are meant to be boxing gloves. These are really great gloves to spar or hit pads and mitts with and are fairly breathable.
Overall: For a first glove by a relatively new company, the PunchTown FRACTURE BXR Pro Boxing Gloves are pretty damn nice. These gloves retail for about £47, which is about $68-$70 depending on the exchange rate. I’ll give ‘em a 4/5 and I am looking forward to seeing a Thai style glove from them.
PURCHASE: PunchTown FRACTURE BXR Pro Boxing Gloves
PunchTown products are available at the PunchTown website, www.punchtown.com. PunchTown products are also available at www.made4fighters.co.uk and any other awesome MMA gear retailers out there.
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