“Ring to Cage Deluxe MiM-Foam Sparring Gloves” Review

The Deluxe MiM-Foam Sparring Gloves with safety strap is a slightly new take on common product from fight-gear company Ring to Cage. The sparring gloves were designed largely with comfort and knuckle protection in mind, which led to some advantages and some disadvantages to more traditional models out there.

Ultimately, whether the Deluxe MiM-Foam Sparring Gloves are a good purchase depends on the training needs and training frequency of the buyer.

The advertised feature on these sparring gloves is the dual-cross safety strap. This strap uses two sets of Velcro to secure the glove to the wrist on both the inside and the outside of the glove. When properly affixed, this safety strap is a very sturdy feature that holds the wrist in line with the rest of the glove, perfectly. This feature is a solid selling point to put into the name of the gloves. There’s not much to be said about the wrist support for these boxing gloves: it’s immaculate.

The sparring gloves are very front-heavy for sixteen ouncers, providing 2.5 inches of padding in front of the knuckles. This has some advantages and disadvantages. The extra padding combined with exceptional wrist support means that it is almost impossible for a hand wearing the Ring to Cage sparring gloves to get injured. It feels like a mattress between the knuckles and the target.

This also means that there will be less damage done to the sparring partner at the business end of these gloves. An athlete wearing these could go harder, more often, without worrying about breaking too many sparring partners.

The front-heavy design does decrease manual dexterity while wearing these gloves. While fine motor skills aren’t often a priority while designing a 16 ounce glove, wearing them does make clinch work more difficult. Anyone training Muay Thai in a gym with an old country style, as opposed to Dutch Muay Thai style, will find the entries to get and maintain clinch positions much more difficult in the Ring to Cage gloves.

The clinch striking that the Thais are famous for is more than the plum position, erroneously referred to as the “Thai clinch,” and some of the finer tactics will simply be annoying to practice with these gloves.

The inside is lined with a poly/nylon material that does score these gloves big points for comfort. The lining makes the otherwise heavy-feeling gloves breathe very well and the material dries quickly after hanging the gloves up.

There is a glaring issue that comes from the lining material, as all material lining makes for a shortened lifetime on pads.

The boxing gloves are made from very high quality material. Real leather, MiM-foam, all expensive elements meant to create a long-lasting product. These high quality materials justify the over-mean price of $89.95 for the gloves.

If someone is training hard four days a week or more, no matter how meticulously he may care for his gear, lining material will slowly absorb sweat and become absolutely rancid inside of a year. Packing the pads in clean cat litter for a week has been known to reduce this accumulated smell. But, because these high-quality materials will hold together longer than some cheaper models, ultimately the smell will be what retires these gloves.

Overall, while Ring to Cage does a good job of making high-quality gear, the Deluxe MiM-Foam Sparring Boxing Gloves can only be recommended for competitive professionals, amateurs, and very serious hobbyists. These pads are intended for the kind of people who will have another set of gloves for the situations that these gloves are inappropriate. These also need to be the kind of people who are willing to drop the money that these pads cost on an annual basis.

For the serious combat sports aficionado, the gloves would be a good buy, even with their drawbacks. But anyone more casual about their training may want to look to a cheaper pad that will, undoubtedly, be in worse condition when it eventually has to be replaced. Ultimately, those cheaper options will be easier on the wallet.

You can grab these boxing gloves from the Ring to Cage website at this link here!

You might also enjoy our reviews of these other MMA products: Fuel Fight Gear X2 sparring gloves, “Ring to Cage MMA Ultra MiM-Foam Sparring Gloves”, and “Knockout Athletics Evo Sparring Gloves.”