A decade ago, honestly it was quite easy to distinguish the leather quality of the gloves.
Genuine leather could last for a long time whereas vinyl ones can tear apart after a couple of punches.
However things have been changed and in this article, I will go through all you need to know about vinyl and leather boxing gloves.
Let’s start with the most common question
Longevity
As I said above, it used to be easy to understand it however in these days, it is not that simple.
For example, I know that (and trained with) Title Gloves which are made of Vinyl and after a few months of training I touched the cover. It was solid and did not have weird wrinkles or deformation on it though I don’t know whether the company still produces it or not.
However, can we compare it to the durability of Cleto Reyes Training Gloves? Well, I just laugh now. Since I used both of them and the quality difference is huge. And even when you touch the cover material, you will feel that these are quite different. One lasted around 14 months and Cleto Reyes Training (leather) was still going strong after 3 years.
So even though there are vinyl pairs, which can last more than a couple of months, generally leather gloves last more than vinyl.
How Frequently Do You Train?
Genuine leather gets rid of sweat more effectively thus it gets rid of smell more effectively. I am a guy who goes to boxing gym 2-3 times per week for years. When this is the case, it is impossible that a vinyl pair gets rid of all the moisture and will be ready for the next session. Sure you can stuff newspaper after you train to get rid of the moisture and try different techniques but it is still not enough. So if you don’t want your boxing gym bag to smell like a dead rat, prefer leather gloves.
However let’s say that you are going to a boxing gym once in a while to punch a heavy bag and get a good sweat, then you really don’t need to spend a lot of money for genuine leather. So people, who do “boxercise”, can save a good amount of money.
Obviously, the bad smell is also about breathability so if the air channels are bigger and well positioned, these pairs can have more air and air flow will be more. As you can see, this is nothing to do with the cover material. So if a pair’s feedback about airflow is good then you can go with it.
Cost Efficiency
This also depends on the glove. Let’s go with my example above. My Title has the one-half price of Cleto Reyes. And it lasted one-third of Cleto Reyes. So here Cleto has a higher cost efficiency. However, keep in mind that this is just one example. Some genuine gloves don’t have one-third cost efficiency of vinyl gloves. There is actually no way to understand this by just looking at the qualities.
Because of this, according to my own results and research, I always include cost efficiency ratings in my overviews.
What Should You be Careful while Buying Vinyl Gloves?
So I always recommend checking out the reviews before you invest any money. However, before you get vinyl gloves definitely check out the reviews lol. Because if the construction sucks you might as well flush your money down the toilet. However, research these on websites and not on YouTube channels which get paid to do good and cool reviews.
Everything in this article also applies to MMA gloves. MMA gloves are constructed with even more developed technology. Due to this sport’s requirements, these are more versatile than boxing gloves. Other than punching, you can also grapple and do submissions with them.
Break-in Period Comparison
Considering my experiences, the break-in period of genuine leather boxing gloves takes much longer than vinyl ones. Of course, the most important factor is whether the pair is handmade or not.
Also, it is generally harder to make a fist with genuine leather gloves. Here the material characteristics play a huge role.
Smell
I am not talking about the smell after you finish your training. I am talking about the smell after you order good quality genuine leather boxing gloves and open the package for the first time : ) Seriously many quality genuine leather pairs smell and you can literally understand whether the leather has amazing quality or not. Well, at least I can understand it lol.
Have a Look at These Boxing Gloves (In this guide, I included both vinyl and leather pairs so you can purchase your gloves according to your training requirements and personal preferences.)
I think these are all you need to know about the subject. After reading it, you can easily understand whether genuine leather gloves or vinyl boxing gloves are for you. I hope this writing is informative for you and if you need any more info on the subject, feel free to leave your comment below.
Nice article. I hadn’t thought much about the differences in boxing gloves before. I really like the part comparing the price versus wear. We often think less expensive is a better value but often that is not the case in many things.
In my opinion, that comparison is necessary for a lot of people.
Because they can understand what they can expect from their gloves. It is basically the return of investment comparison. It is easy to understand and see what the all overall quality is.
Great explanation of the two types of gloves.
I suppose it depends on how serious you are about boxing. If it’s something you wish to do a lot of, then I think getting real leather is important. But if you’re not sure it’s something you’ll enjoy in the long run, then start with a cheaper pair and decide later.
Cheers,
Suzanne
I also think the same. If a person is more serious about boxing, he/she should definitely go with genuine leather ones. Even though sometimes synthetic ones like Hayabusa Tokushu can be quite sturdy synthetic ones tend to last a lot less than the genuine leather boxing gloves.
Many people do the same. My first pair was also extremely affordable but once I decided to be more serious I invested a lot more money for my next pair.
Hello Furkan, I got a good lesson after reading this article. I realized that in choosing a product that we need, aside from the materials and the price, we should also consider the frequency of its usage- by following this formula, it saves us money. You are absolutely right. There’s no need for us to indulge into high end products when your purpose is not to use it regularly for there are lots of alternative products that will cost a little bit cheaper but still you get the best out of it. However, if you are really into this sport, considering the training requirement- I think It’s better to purchase the leather gloves. If we do the math based on the frequency in relation to lifespan, we can still save money on leather than vinyl.
Vinyl vs Leather- a good match and a good comparison review. 🙂
Happy Holidays,
joyce