YOKKAO Official Fight Team Boxing Gloves Review

YOKKAO Official Fight Team Muay Thai Boxing Gloves (10oz) Review

Brand

Beginning in 2011, YOKKAO has become recognized as the World’s premier Muay Thai brand. Working behind the scenes of the brand is a professional team of former fighters and specialists developing high exposure international events while producing the highest quality gear and innovative aesthetic designs. YOKKAO is the most requested brand creating what has since the beginning been called by the Muay Thai Masters and Nak Muays: “The best fight equipment in the market”. Handcrafted from two factories in Thailand, a Fight Team composed of the best fighters from across the planet and a specialized team in R&D, YOKKAO is the leading manufacturer of Muay Thai and MMA Gear in the World.

YOKKAO sent us a pair of these gloves to test out and provide our feedback for them.

About the gloves

These are the Official Fight Team Boxing Gloves, which feature a similar build to many of YOKKAO’s other glove designs, but with a unique visual style. The other difference, as the name suggests, is that these are the gloves used by YOKKAO’s ‘Official Fight Team’, which includes brilliant Muay Thai Fighters such as Saenchai, Pakorn, Liam Harrison, Jordan Watson and Singdam Kiatmoo9.

It’s also worth noting that I’ve been using the Velcro version of these gloves, but YOKKAO can also produce these with a lace-up closure on request.

Weight and distribution

The gloves can be produced anywhere between 8oz and 18oz, so there are a few more options available than there are from other brands. I’ve used the 10oz versions, and the padding all seems firm and somewhat compact, with great feedback when hitting pads or a bag. The cuff also has a fair amount of padding, making it a little stiffer and more protective than other gloves.

Visuals

As you can see above, the Official Fight Team gloves are currently available in 12 different colour options, one of which is a special Denim version, matching the rest of YOKKAO’s Denim equipment. While that’s already a huge amount of options, YOKKAO are constantly releasing new items, so this number may well grow in future. Make sure you take a look at our monthly New Fight Gear roundup to check when any new gear is released.

I ended up getting the black gloves with silver details, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with just how good they look. The main focus is a tiger, circled with the words YOKKAO Muay Thai Fight Team. If you’re sharp, you might have noticed the tiger is the same tiger featured in the YOKKAO logo. The tongue of the tiger is highlighted in red, which adds a dash of contrast and looks great. Behind all this is a stripe running up the gloves in silver, matching the trimming of the glove, which makes the visuals feel less like an isolated logo, and instead making them work well together.

Other than this there’s not a huge amount to discuss. The rest of the glove is black and white, with the only other graphics on the cuff. The glove weight can be found here, as well as a manufacturer’s sticker verifying the year of manufacture. Next to those is the YOKKAO logo, which is printed on a 3D embossed patch with a slight shine to it. What I love most is the way it catches the light just slightly, adding an element of depth.

Below you can find our Fight Gear Focus video giving you a close-up, visual look at these Gloves. Make sure you check out the rest of the video series and Subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss any of our future videos.

Materials

Overall the materials used for these gloves are pretty good. They’re handmade in Thailand with premium cowhide leather. The leather itself feels good and is pulled tightly over the padding. They’re definitely competitive with the other major Thai brands in this area. The inner material is fairly standard, but still comfortable, and there isn’t too much loose material on the inside to get caught around your fingers.

The part of the cuff covering the back of the wrist is lined in leather, rather than the same inner lining. While it doesn’t make a huge difference, it gives the gloves a slightly more premium feel, and does add a little bit more grip around the wrist to stop any unwanted movement.

Before getting our hands on these gloves, we’d heard that some people have had issues in the past with the YOKKAO logo peeling off their gloves (Although many people swear by the quality). I can quite thankfully say that hasn’t turned out to be the case. The graphics on this particular model are printed on just as well as any other gloves we’ve tested (probably better than some), and show no sign of coming off any time soon, even on the knuckles which receive the most contact.

Craftsmanship

There are aspects about the build of these gloves which I really liked. One of these is the shape of the gloves. Obviously as you would expect from a Muay Thai glove, they’ve been designed with clinching in mind, and have a good amount of movement in the hand. What I like most however is the thumb position. The way the gloves have been designed leaves the thumb in a really nice position, slightly curved in. The position is held in place well by a fully attached thumb, and there’s plenty of padding, which both work to eliminate the effects of a bad punch. At the moment these win the award for my favourite thumb position on a Muay Thai glove.

Other aspects of the glove are beautifully put together as well. The stitching is near-perfect, everything is secured well and I can’t find any faults at all. I have to admit, the Thais are up there amongst some of the best boxing glove manufacturers in the world.

Comfort/use

When I first put these gloves on, it was obvious that they have a pretty nice, snug fit. At the same time, they aren’t overly tight like some of the other boxing gloves we’ve reviewed. Unfortunately these gloves aren’t breathable, so it’s important to air them out, however there are 7 air holes, and the leather palm is much better for using when clinching.

I used these gloves primarily for pad and bag work, and the 10oz verisons I’ve been working with are a pleasure to use. I tend to like lighter gloves because of the feedback on contact, and these are great at that, while still remaining comfortable on the knuckles. Obviously a beginner or anybody looking for a little more protection would probably want a higher weight. From my experience with these gloves in comparison to other gloves of the same weight, it seems like the triple density foam creates a good mid-point between firmness and comfort.

One dislike about these gloves is the cuff. They have a firm, fairly stiff cuff, which is fairly common in Muay Thai style gloves, and comes with a few benefits, such as better support. My issue however is that at first the cuff was a little uncomfortable, and one of the inner seams was sitting uncomfortably on my forearm. Fortunately it seems it was just a case of breaking the gloves in, and this now isn’t an issue. The only other problem I’ve noticed is that because the cuff is thick and still fairly stiff, it’s hard to secure the strap as tightly as I’d like.

The padding on the side of the palm is another feature which I do like however. When most gloves have a padded bar inserted along the side of the glove, it’s usually either slightly too soft, or positioned badly, however the YOKKAO gloves use a slightly firmer padding which sits close to the hands, so I’d feel more than confident blocking a kick if needs be.

Cost

YOKKAO use a flexible pricing system with their boxing gloves, so the price will depend on the weight of the glove. On these gloves, the standard price ranges from $82 for a 6oz, all the way up to $106 for an 18oz version. This price is a little high, and would probably be above what a beginner would be looking to pay, but for an intermediate or advanced fighter, paying that little extra may well be worth it.

As an added extra, you can have any YOKKAO gloves customised, with whatever text you choose embroidered on to the cuff, costing you an extra $8 for each glove you customise. We used YOKKAO’s Customisation service when we bought some of their Carbon Muay Thai Shorts (check out the review here) and have to admit having your own unique gear is a great feeling.

Looking to buy these?