Lonsdale Mens Boxing Boots Review
Brand
Lonsdale is a British boxing, MMA and clothing brand founded in 1960 by ex boxer Bernard Hart and named after the Hugh Cecil Lowther, the 5th Earl of Lonsdale who set up the first organised boxing events where fighters wore gloves in 1891 after several deaths in bare knuckle bouts. Lonsdale can boast a prestigious list of sponsored fighters – including Muhammed Ali. The brand is now owned by Sports Direct and offers a wide range of boxing and general fitness apparel.
About the Boots
The Lonsdale Men’s Boxing Boots are one of the main boxing boots offered by Lonsdale, along with the contender series. They come in sizes 7-12 (youth sizes are also sold) and are available in black or white, I got hold of a pair of black to review.
Aesthetics
The boots are matte black all over, with white along the side of the soles, a flash round the rim of the ankle, the Lonsdale lion logo on the top of the tongue and ‘Lonsdale London’ printed on the outside and a lion printed on the inside. I really like the way these boots look, the black body with white detailing looks really crisp, and gives the whole boot a simple understated style, however I do think that the white with black detailing does look slightly preferable.
Materials
According to the Lonsdale website the upper of the boot is made of leather and textile, the inner is textile and the sole is synthetic. The quality of the materials Lonsdale have used the leather feels great and the textile parts are all high quality.
Craftsmanship
Overall the craftsmanship of these boxing boots seems pretty good, I’ve put them through some tough training and they’re holding together well. There are quite a few loose stitches though, which does leave me a bit concerned over how long they’re going to carry on holding together!
Comfort/use
The first point I want to make about these boots is that they need some serious breaking in. I wore mine around the house for a few days before training, but by the end of my first session I had the mother of all blisters on the ball of my foot. This is obviously my fault not Lonsdale’s, but just make sure you break them in well before you start training in them. However, after a few sessions once the leather broke in properly they were very comfortable, and provided great ankle support throughout a training session.
Cost
With a regular retail price of £79.99, at the time of writing reduced to £35.99, these boots are reasonable – especially at the reduced price. However at the regular price I feel they might be slightly too expensive to draw in beginners, whilst a more experience boxer may opt for other larger brands such as Nike or known high quality boxing company’s such as Reyes, who offer boots that aren’t much more expensive.
Looking to buy these?
Pros/Cons
+ Supportive
+ Comfortable
+ Understated style
– Some loose stitching
– Limited colour options
– Fairly expensive (at regular retail price)
Bought the Contenders because they look so cool… but they’re the worst quality in the whole world. Only been wearing them to the gym for 3 months now and they are falling apart. I’ve glued the soles back on 3 times now. Almost immediately the faux black leather all over the boots started flaking off leaving black ‘bits’ all over my apartment. The stitching is failing at the front and back of both shoes.. Utter crap really. Super disappointing.
I can’t seem to find the difference between these and the contender series. Are these better in any way since they are pricier?