The Cleto Reyes Training Gloves are the best puncher’s gloves out there. They may be expensive, but they will last you for years of intense workouts. Just be aware that if you have brittle hands, you will need a lot of hand wraps due to the latex padding. Not recommended for beginners!
With over 19 years of martial arts experience, I’ve used a lot of boxing gloves. Some I use to this day, while others are absolutely not worth the hype (I’m looking at you, Venum). And while I’ve never personally owned a pair of Cleto Reyes, I’ve been fortunate enough to have used and tested ones that belong to a close friend of mine and I’m here to tell you if they’re worth it. I’ve poured through every single user review and – as I said – I have some first-hand experience and I’m going to tell you if they’re actually worth all the hype
Metric | Grade |
Price-to-Quality | 4/5 |
Durability | 5/5 |
Padding | 5/5 |
Wrist Support | 3/5 |
Glove Fit | 5/5 |
Breathability | 5/5 |
Overall Score | 27/30 |
My Experience with the Cleto Reyes Hook & Loop Training Gloves
One of the mainstays of boxing, Cleto Reyes are the pioneers of Mexican-style boxing gloves. And their Hook & Loop Training Gloves are no exception. Made of full grain leather, and have very good stitching, making them extremely durable. This ensures that they’ll last you quite a long time.
They use latex foam for padding. Why is that important? Because latex is a very responsive material, and it has extremely high recoil. This makes the gloves very springy. So whenever you punch, the high recoil of the padding will let you reset very quickly.
So, if you have sensitive hands, or some weakness in your wrists, then Cleto Reyes are definitely not the gloves for you. When hitting, especially if your hands aren’t wrapped, you can actually feel your knuckles through the material.
Another great feature of the Cleto Reyes Hook & Loop is their amazing breathability. They have a relatively open design, as well as lots of aeration holes. So although your hands will get sweaty, it won’t be distracting you too much from your training session.
The gloves also have great wrist mobility. Their flexibility gives your hands a very wide range of motion. In other gloves, that range of motion comes at the expense of wrist support. But not here. These Cleto Reyes really keep your wrist in the proper position when punching. Now, is the wrist support better than something like a Hayabusa or a Ringside? No, but comes reakky close.
However, if you’re the type of boxer who likes throwing multiple punches per round and you like a good pop to your punches, then these are definitely the best gloves for you.
What I like:
- Full grain leather
- Extremely thick and durable
- Very good breathability
- Good range of movement for your hands
- Good wrist mobility
- Very good power transfer
What I don’t like:
- Some people have problems with the thumb area
- Little padding around the wrist. Wrong punch may cause injuries
Durability: 5/5
Construction quality is the most important factor for glove longevity. The best boxing gloves are made of real leather. High-quality leather is strong, breathable, looks good, and can last a long time. It’s also a plus if the glove is made of fewer separate pieces of leather. This means there are less seams – and by extension – less places where the glove can fall apart.
The construction quality of the Cleto Reyes Hook and Loop is absolutely top-notch. They use full-grain cowhide leather which is the absolute best possible material for boxing gloves. They’re handmade and the stitching and overall build quality are among the best on the market.
They may be expensive, but you can be certain that these gloves will last for many long years of intense boxing workouts.
Padding: 5/5
A boxing glove’s main purpose is to protect your hand. This is achieved by using good, high-quality padding. Padding on the knuckles protects them from injury when striking at a heavy bag or your opponent’s body while padding on the backside of your hand helps you defend against attacks when blocking and parrying.
Nowadays, almost all gloves use latex or foam for padding. Different manufacturers use many different techniques when cutting and layering the foam they use for padding, and that greatly affects the quality of the glove. Done properly, it feels great when you hit, and the gloves can last a long time. Done poorly, and the padding can not only quickly fall apart, but also hurt your hands.
Cleto Reyes are famous for using natural latex for padding. This is great for the more offensively-minded boxers who like to throw a lot of punches. This is because latex is one of the most responsive materials on Earth. The moment you hit something with these gloves, the latex bends and immediately pushes your hand back.
This allows you to quickly pull your hands back into your guard, ready to throw another punch. This is further enhanced by the flat punching surface these gloves have, which further helps the material retain its shape better.
The main drawback of this kind of padding is the lack of protection. When you punch something, you’re definitely going to feel it.
Whenever I’ve used Cleto Reyes on a heavy bag, I’ve always been able to feel my knuckles touching the surface of the bag. So, if you’re someone like George Foreman who likes to swing for the fences and finish his fights in one hit, then these gloves are definitely NOT for you.
They’re also a poor choice for people with weak or brittle hands because your knuckles will be hitting whatever it is you’re punching.
Still, if you like having that recoil to your punches, make sure your hands are very well-wrapped and padded. That way, you’ll still have the recoil from the latex, but your knuckles will be protected.
Wrist Support: 3/5
The wrist is one of the most vulnerable areas in boxing, especially during more intense workouts. When you punch hard, you exert a lot of force on your wrist. And if it isn’t aligned properly, that can lead to spraining – or even breaking – your wrist.
The number one way to prevent that is to use proper technique when you throw punches and not go full force until you have some good fundamentals.
But another thing that can help you is if your boxing gloves are designed with proper wrist support. This comes it the form of having a good curve to the boxing glove itself. That way your wrist is in line with your forearm. Another important aspect is to have padding around the wrist. That way it’s hard for you to twist your hand into an improper position.
When it comes to wrist support, Cleto Reyes have a very good curve to the fist portion. But the wrist section deliberately has little padding in order to give you more flexibility when parrying. This is good for the type of boxers these gloves are designed for. Namely, aggressive Manny Pacquiao-style punchers who like to throw lots of punches during the round and need to stay quick and nimble on their feet.
But if you like going full force on the punching bag, then the lack of wrist support is going to be a problem. You’d be better off with something like the Ringside IMF boxing gloves or a pair of Hayabusas.
Glove Fit: 5/5
In my experience, the two most important factors for boxing gloves are padding and fit. I’ve tried on quite a few expensive boxing gloves that just didn’t fit right. And regardless of how high quality they were, I still wouldn’t use them.
Some gloves are better suited for people with bigger hands and wrists, while others will feel better if your hands are smaller. If your gloves are too big or too small, you can have difficulty forming a tight fist. Hitting like that will not only ruin your workout but can also lead to serious hand injuries.
The Cleto Reyes Hook and Loop have a really nice, snug fit to them. The leather is soft and supple and the inner lining is nice and smooth.
Breathability: 5/5
During training, your hands will get very hot and sweaty, so it’s important to have more open gloves that allow the skin on your hands to breathe. Not only is this more comfortable, it’s also good for the padding. Sweat is acidic, and with enough time, it can actually break down the padding. Ideally, you want gloves made out of leather, as it’s a much more breathable material than its synthetic counterparts.
The Cleto Reyes Hook and Loop have some of the best breathability I’ve ever seen in a pair of boxing gloves. They have a nice, long opening above the velcro strap, as well as some aeration holes below the fingers and on the thumb area.
Verdict: 27/30
Overall, the Cleto Reyes Hook and Loop are an amazing pair of puncher’s boxing gloves. They’ve got some of the best latex padding out there, giving your punches a really nice recoil. If you’ve got brittle hands, then I suggest you go for something like a Ringside. Or – if you’ve got the budget for it – Winning.
As it stands, though, these are an amazing pair of premium Mexican-style boxing gloves and it’s clear why they’re one of the mainstays of boxing, and have been for decades.