The Everlast Elite Training Gloves, are positioned as a premium offering in Everlast’s boxing glove lineup. These gloves are equipped with the now-popular EverShield technology, which ensures optimal wrist alignment. However, concerns have been raised about the glove’s suitability for sparring, specifically due to the placement of the stitching, which might impact their versatility in a boxing setting.
From comfort, padding, and stitching quality to wrist support and sparring/bagwork suitability, we’ll dissect every aspect to help you make an informed decision to buy these gloves. For those first visiting our site, below our introduction, you will see a radar plot of all the prominent reviews for this glove model. Although our team has decades of experience reviewing boxing gloves, a second opinion never hurts!
**PSA I am not sponsored by Everlast and am not affiliated with the brand in any way.**
Score Review
Padding (85/100)
The Everlast Elite Lace-up Training Gloves boast a multi-layered foam padding, ensuring a robust protection for the hands. This padding is especially prominent at the back of the glove, offering a cushioned shield against impacts. The EverShield tech, an exclusive feature of these gloves, further enhances this protection. Positioned at the rear of the hand, it not only provides additional padding but is also designed to stabilize the hand, preventing excessive wrist movement and potential injuries.
Glove Fit (75/100)
The design of these gloves inherently positions the hand in a fist-like posture. This means that the user doesn’t have to exert much effort to form a tight fist, making it efficient for striking. However, this design also means that fully opening the hand requires a bit more effort, which might be a consideration during training sessions that require more hand flexibility. The thumb compartment, while slightly on the shorter side, has been crafted to ensure it remains comfortable, ensuring that the user’s thumb is snug but not overly compressed.
Inner-Lining Comfort (80/100)
The inner lining of the Everlast Elite Lace-up Training Gloves offers a snug and comfortable fit. When you put these gloves on, you will notice that your hand is automatically positioned to create a correct fist for punching, this is achieved through the long EverShield feature that curves the wrist. Since gloves’ shape aids in comfort, ensuring that the hand remains in a natural, fist-like position throughout training, your hands don’t get tired as fast. This design choice minimizes unnecessary strain on the hand muscles, allowing for prolonged training sessions without discomfort.Â
Exterior Material (60/100)
Crafted from not the finest synthetic leather, the exterior of these gloves is built for about 6-12 months of durability (from my personal experience). Given the price of the gloves, I think this is a decent longevity. However! At a price of $140, there is a clear potential improvement: Everlast should make these gloves from genuine full or top-grain leather. Genuine leather would offer a smoother exterior for sparring, eliminating some of the rough edges that synthetic materials can sometimes present. Also, genuine leather might also make pro boxers take this glove a little bit more seriously!
Stitching Quality (60/100)
Manufactured in China, the gloves exhibit a commendable quality of stitching (something not very common from my experience with Everlast gloves). However, there are areas where the stitching could be refined. Some sections appear slightly rough, with a few stray threads visible. HOWEVER, a huge problem with these gloves is the seam that traverses the punch surface. This seam, while perhaps necessary for the glove’s construction, is a tremendous concern for those considering the glove for sparring. Take a look at the seam in the picture below:
Wrist Support (90/100)
Sparring Suitability (40/100)
While the gloves are packed with features, their suitability for sparring remains a topic of debate. The seam on the punch surface and the potential rough edges of the synthetic leather could pose concerns during sparring sessions. The presenter was clear in his belief that if the gloves were devoid of this seam and crafted from genuine leather, they would be a top contender for sparring sessions.
Heavy bag Suitability (89/100)
For those focused on heavy bag workouts, the Everlast Elite Lace-up Training Gloves come highly recommended. Their design, combined with the robust padding and wrist support, ensures that users can engage in effective and safe heavy bag training sessions. The gloves’ natural fist position, combined with the additional padding at the rear of the wrist, are features that stand out, making these gloves a top choice for those looking to maximize their heavy bag workouts.
Everlast Elite Training Gloves Overview
The Everlast Elite Lace-up Training Gloves are, when it comes down to value for money, not the best choice. Although this glove is a decent blend of design and functionality, ideal for most training sessions, there are much more exciting gloves at the ~$140 range. To give some credit to Everlast, the multi-layered foam padding and EverShield tech ensure fairly robust protection, while the synthetic leather exterior and stitching showcase some clear areas for potential refinement. While these are much better suited for heavy bag workouts, their suitability for sparring is debatable due to the seam on around the punch/cuff surface and the synthetic material’s rough edges. Overall, these gloves are on the better side of Everlast’s product line, offering a commendable option with definite room for enhancements.
