Anthem Athletics Boxing Gloves Review: Stormbringer II

If you’re considering whether Anthem Athletic’s Stormbringer II are the right boxing gloves for you, then you’re in the right place.

In this Anthem Athletics boxing gloves review, I’ll lay down whether you should bother getting them for yourself.

I’m testing the Stormbringer II, which is an evolution from the original model.

Let’s get on to the review!

My first impressions (video review)

If you’re not in the mood for light reading, you might want to watch my first impressions of the Anthem Athletics Stormbringer II in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrcSXAOOYP0

Continue reading if you want to get even more detail about my thoughts and considerations while checking out the gloves.

My review of the Anthem Athletics boxing gloves

Let’s crack on with my personal review having tried out these gloves.

Quick summary

I’m reviewing the Anthem Athletics Stormbringer II in a friendly matte-black style called Stealth Gunmetal.

The glove size I’m trying out is 16 oz, which is significant for my hand and wrist size.

Keep in mind the size I’m reviewing with my thoughts and opinions.

The gloves could fit differently for you than me and change what training purposes they are most useful for.

Things to know about this review

There are a few things you should know first about this review:

• Anthem Athletics sponsors this review. They kindly sent me a pair of Stormbringer II gloves to be able to create this review.
• I’m reviewing the 16 oz gloves. That’s the biggest size I can use based on my weight and hand size. Keep in mind that your hand size could be very different from mine. These gloves can also come in 12 oz and 14 oz, depending on stock availability.
• The style I am reviewing is the Stealth Gunmetal color. There are lots of other styles available, depending on stock.

Let’s get on with this review. Firstly let’s talk about the materials.

The Buffalo leather materials

The gloves are made with 100% Buffalo Leather. At first, I didn’t know very much about this kind of leather and whether it was good, but I did some research.

According to Buffalo Collection, Buffalo leather is “one of the strongest upholstery materials known to man.”

It is a versatile material that offers an unparalleled softness for a hide material and yet is strong and durable enough to last for a very long time.

The thickness of buffalo leather is up to three times more than typical cowhide, and up to an inch of widely-spaced sub-dermal collagen fibers ensures its strength and flexibility.

From fondling the gloves for a while, I can say they have an exceptionally soft exterior. This real leather doesn’t feel shiny or frictionless. It wrinkles up nicely if you squeeze it together.

After regular use, it seems like they will deflect sweat better than a shiny-material glove would. In my experience, gloves with a gleaming surface usually feel like punching with a water ball.

Shiny gloves and water don’t go so well together because your punches can slip off your target easier, which has the potential for extra injuries to your wrists. Which I am not a fan of one bit.

But the Stormbringer II gloves don’t feel like that. The buffalo leather is very breathable, and it actually absorbs moisture and releases it evenly, just like human skin.

The only concern I had was whether the matte-like leather would be easier to crack and break over time. Possibly when used repeatedly in bag work that has cracks itself. But I haven’t tested them long enough to find out yet.

Features and strapping of the gloves

The gloves have the classic Anthem Athletics logo on the back of the gloves on both the back of the hand and across the wrist strap.

The sizing tag hangs off just underneath the strap.

On the palm side of the gloves, there is a breathable mesh. This extra area helps give a bit of additional flexibility around the palm, which helps with martial arts like Muay Thai when you need to catch kicks, parry, etc.

The gloves have a connector between the finger and thumb enclosures, which is a pretty standard part of gloves these days.

Under the fingers lies a pretty sturdy grip bar which I like. It helps to squeeze your fist down in a more natural way to reduce any space between parts of your hand. It’s always the space between your bones (when making a fist) that causes a problem.

You want to be able to squeeze your fist together tightly when throwing a punch to deliver the maximum energy and stability, so you don’t injure the small bones or ligaments in your hand.

There is particular wrist support added to the back of the gloves that spreads across where the wrist meets the back of the hand.

At first, it seems that there is plenty of bend in the wrists of the gloves, but when putting them on, the wrist support feels more apparent and sturdy.

The gloves bending at the wrist is a classic sign of being suitable as Kickboxing or Muay Thai gloves.

These gloves are marketed as suitable for boxing and Muay Thai, and after having played with them for a bit, they appear to be most ideal for Thai boxing and Kickboxing styles.

The additional wrist support and ability to open your hand make them versatile for arts using eight limbs.

Foam padding inside the gloves

The padding in these gloves feels like a lot, so you’re not getting shortchanged here. I was immediately confident that it would protect my hands across the fist.

While my review gloves are 16 oz, and the padding is likely to be thicker than its smaller sizes, it’s clear that Anthem has paid close attention to providing adequate internal foam across the knuckles.

I can squeeze the front padding of the knuckles tightly and barely make an impact as the foam resizes to its original shape quickly.

Because of that, I think these gloves would be perfect to use in sparring in the 16 oz size. It’s essential to respect your opponents and wear appropriate gloves, like ones with adequate padding around the punch.

Plenty of fighters wear smaller glove sizes if they can get away with it or those shiny-and-wet, annoying gloves. You don’t want to be another of those guys, so these Stormbringer’s seem to do the trick.

Placing fingers into the ends of the glove compartment feels very snug and well padded on the top of the fingers.

I must get my fingers right into the pockets for them, and not all gloves do this very well. If your fingers can’t reach into the gloves and sit there comfortably, you’re risking the rest of your hand being in the wrong position for safe punches.

My thumb doesn’t feel amazing in these gloves, as the position goes up at a weird angle, and I can feel my thumb pushing against more of the internal stitching than any padding.

But to be perfectly honest, I expect this with most gloves because they’re rarely designed well for the actual skeletal frame of the hand. It might just be my own experience with having pretty small hands and wrists, so take that with a pinch of salt and try them for yourself.

Again, one issue for me with having smaller hands is that the outer part of my hand feels a bit too spacious inside the glove. The size of these gloves feels too wide to give my hands a proper fit.

It’s essential to get the snuggest fit you can with any boxing glove because ultimately, it will lead to fewer injuries. There should be some room to wear hand wraps in the gloves for added stability.

The wrist and hand support in these gloves

If this isn’t already obvious, one thing that’s important to me is to have a lot of support for the wrist and the back of the hand.

With good structural protection up the back of the hand, it helps to keep the alignment straight and in good form when punching.

With bad form due to too much flexibility at the wrist, injuries can be more common. I’ve suffered from these, leading to all sorts of issues in the forearm, elbow, and even shoulder.

The science backs up my concerns, as a study on the Great Britain Olympic Boxing Squad showed that 21.6% of them suffered from Carpometacarpal instability in competition.

Basically, that usually means hyperextension at the base of the thumb. And is common amongst elite boxers.

On one half, practicing good form and technique is a huge contributor. On the other, having a well-fitted glove that keeps your wrist stable in alignment with the back of your hand plays a significant role, too.

Around the wrist, the strapping gives good fixed support. These gloves feel like they won’t move around much from the anchoring on the wrist.

With your hand inside the glove, there’s a bend vertically at the wrist and a little bit of movement horizontally, too. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s something to keep in mind when choosing a glove for your fighting style. Some movement is often necessary for kickboxing styles.

Stormbringer II glove style

Personally, I love the Stealth Gunmetal style that I chose for this review. I often go for stealthy or matte black looks in my gloves, because that fits my personality.

But fortunately, there is a wide range of color options for just about anyone.

The Anthem Athletics Stormbringer II comes in a massive range of pretty unique color options. Here is the complete list of color options:

• 24kG
• 24kG Black
• Army Tri
• Ghost Blue
• Ghost Grey
• Ghost Orange
• Ghost Red
• Ghost White
• Iconic Tiffany
• Iron Oxblood
• Patriot
• Platinum Black
• Platinum Phantom
• Prime Black
• Prime Blue
• Prime Red
• Prime White
• Stealth Army
• Stealth Gunmetal
• Typhoon Navy
• Vintage

Final Word: Buy or don’t buy?

I like these gloves for the quality of the leather, the high amounts of foam padding inside, and that they anchor to my (fairly small) wrists very well.

They are definitely good gloves to use for Muay Thai or Kickboxing where having wrist flexibility is important for catching kicks, etc. So I’d say a good buy for a kickboxer.

If I was looking for a pure Boxing glove, then I may keep looking around in this price range to see if there is something with more stability for the wrist. So I’d say not the best buy for a pure Boxer.

If you’re looking for a glove that is completely versatile across many different fighting disciplines, then I’d say these gloves are a great option for mixed martial artists.

Research for this review

Now that you’ve read my thoughts and review about these gloves, let me share some of the research I’ve done and answer some common questions.

Why you should trust my review

MMA Hive and this review are mostly written by one person, Joe. I’m a mixed martial artist in training just like you and care deeply about providing the very best quality of content on this website.

I got my own pair of these gloves in my hands and tested them out myself to create this review. Unlike most other websites that just regurgitate Amazon reviews, I actually test products for myself. And that’s why you should trust my opinion.

If you want to see another one of my reviews, check out my year-long Fairtex BGV14 review.

Is Anthem Athletics a good brand?

Anthem Athletics has been producing combat sports apparel and equipment for aspiring martial artists since 2014. Their catalog includes various gear suitable for Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, and general fitness.

Their gear is clearly of a very high standard, and they care about the quality of products they create, with reviews about them often very positive.

One customer on Facebook even commented on one of their posts to express their gratitude to the brand:

“Great gear hands down used in my Muay Thai Championship match and won. Thank you so much…Professor Angel Santiago”

Some of the other products that Anthem Athletics makes are Muay Thai shorts like the Classic Muay Thai & Kickboxing Shorts and the Resolute Muay Thai Shorts.

They also have other fight shorts like the Resilience Fight Shorts, suitable for MMA and grappling like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

How should boxing gloves feel?

Boxing gloves should feel firmly snug around your hands when worn. To get the right fit and feel, you might need to try different brands of gloves and sizes to see which feel most comfortable. Every person’s hands are different, just like gloves.

So in order to get that perfect cinderella fit, test out different kinds of gloves and brands to discover what feels right.

Some things to look out for when trying on a fresh pair of gloves are:

• Can your fingers reach into the full end of the gloves comfortably?
• Does your thumb sit happily at a natural angle to allow you to make a natural fist as much as possible?
• Can you make a fist that brings your whole hand together?
• Does the glove rotate around your wrist when strapped firmly? (That’s bad)
• Can you bend your wrist vertically or horizontally too much? (It may lack stability for you)

What size boxing gloves for a heavy bag should I buy?

Generally, choosing a larger glove size is the best option for boxing on a heavy bag. For most people, that would be 16 oz gloves.

Heavy bag work is often some of the strongest strikes you can practice and so having a lot of hand protection is important for reducing injuries.

A 14 oz glove size might be OK if you have tiny hands. If you are a tremendous person with big hands, you should consider at least 16 oz gloves and possibly even bigger ones.

Thanks for reading this Anthem Athletics boxing gloves review! By now, you should know very well whether these are the right gloves for you. And if you’re still uncertain and have questions, leave a comment below!