Venum vs Hayabusa Boxing Gloves: Elite, S4 or T3?

Put a 12 oz Venum Elite, a 12 oz Hayabusa S4 and a 12 oz Hayabusa T3 on the same counter and you have three gloves with the same number on the cuff and three different hands in mind. The Venum was cut for an average or small hand and runs narrow. The S4 was cut for a small hand and runs tight enough that its own buyers tell you to order up. The T3 was cut for anyone, including the big-handed people the other two send away. Most beginners end up choosing between these three, and most of them choose by colour and price. The reviews say choose by hand.

The short answer: if your hands are average or small and you can spend about $100, the Venum Elite is the glove with the fewest complaints in the category. If your hands are large, you spar, or you want to buy once, the Hayabusa T3 at about $170 is the glove the reviews trust most. The Hayabusa S4 at about $80 is the Hayabusa feel for less, and it is a good buy only if your hands are small and you order a size up. Here is why, from roughly 21,000 buyer ratings across the three.

Key facts

Venum Elite

About $100–110 – 2 % one- and two-star reviews, runs small and narrow, 3+ year reports

Hayabusa S4

About $80 – fit complaints outnumber praise (133 of 254), about a year before you upgrade

Hayabusa T3

About $170 – dual strap praised 164 to 6, roomy, 2–3 year reports

Big hands

T3 only; the Elite and the S4 both send large hands away

Sparring

Elite at 14–16 oz or T3; the S4 is a bag, pad and light-sparring glove

Sizing

S4 a size up, always; Elite a size up with thick wraps; T3 true to size

At a glance

The price ladder

Three gloves, three steps. The S4 costs about $80, the Elite about $100 to $110, and the T3 $169, roughly double the S4. The steps buy different things. The $20 or $30 from the S4 to the Elite buys a glove that fits more people and carries three-year durability reports where the S4 carries one-year ones. The further $60 to $90 from the Elite to the T3 buys the roomiest hand compartment of the three and a closure that 164 of 170 reviewers praise. The first step removes the risk. The second removes the replacement.

Venum Elite: the glove that runs narrow

Of nearly 8,700 ratings, 86 percent are five stars and two percent are one or two. That is the mildest complaint profile of any adult glove we have looked at, and the complaints that do exist are mostly about the first fortnight: rigid out of the box, a slightly slippery outer shell on some bags, a fit that a minority find not snug enough without wraps. Build quality is praised in close to 500 reviews, appearance in nearly all of them, and the colour range is the largest in the category by a distance. Owners report three years and more of hard use with the wrist support still doing its job.

The limit is in the shape. It runs a little small and a little narrow, 50 reviewers say so, and buyers with large hands are steered to other gloves in review after review. The 12 oz is described as less bulky than a typical 12 oz, which is a compliment if your hands are small and a warning if they are not. Break-in is short, which is why it suits people who want to spar within their first few months: 10 oz for the bag, 14 or 16 oz for sparring, one pair for both, in boxing and Muay Thai gyms alike. If it fits, it is the safest $100 in boxing.

Hayabusa S4: the glove that runs small

The S4 is the entry-level Hayabusa and the reviews like it for that: quality for the money in 400 positive mentions, comfortable enough to use without wraps, decent wrist support, and a popular first serious pair for teenagers and improvers. Then there is the sizing.

Hayabusa ties ounces to hand sizes on this glove: 10 oz is XS, 12 oz is S, 14 oz is M, 16 oz is L. Beginners who pick ounces by body weight, as every size guide tells them to, end up with a shell that is too tight, and 133 of 254 fit mentions are negative, the only glove in our whole data set where fit complaints outnumber fit praise. Getting the glove on is its own topic, 41 negative mentions to 15 positive, and people with big hands report doing sessions without wraps just to stretch it. Durability is split, 92 positive to 54 negative, with a fair number of pairs failing inside a year, shell chipping and thumb defects among the reports, and one reviewer summing the glove up as good for about a year before you upgrade. It also needs drying and cleaning after every session, or it will let you know.

Hayabusa T3: the glove that runs roomy

The T3 is the opposite of its little brother in the one way that matters. It runs true to size and roomy, large hands are named in the comfort praise, and it works with cloth wraps and quick wraps alike. The dual-strap closure is the most one-sided piece of praise in the whole category: 164 positive mentions to 6 negative, and 85 to 2 on wrist protection. Buyers who came from lace-ups compare the lock to a lace-up. Build quality and durability run to 445 positive mentions, with multiple two-year reports at three sessions a week and at least one past three years. The thumb has a cloth panel for wiping sweat, the lining resists odour, and the 16 oz dominates the reviews, which tells you what people buy it for.

What it costs you is the price, which even happy buyers mention, and a firm padding that stings for the first few sessions. Wrist control is the one divided topic: of 50 mentions, 19 find the closure over-tight or say it wraps the fingers. A few pairs arrived with loose stitching, and one 10 oz pair came in under weight, so the advice in the reviews is to size up if you are between sizes. None of that stops it being the glove to buy once.

Which one fits your hand

Your hands	Venum Elite	Hayabusa S4	Hayabusa T3
Small or narrow	Good fit at the marked size	Still order a size up	Roomy; fill it with a full wrap
Average	Good fit; a size up with thick wraps	Order a size up	True to size
Large or wide	Not recommended	Not recommended	The best fit of the three
Thick wraps every session	Size up	Size up, then expect a stiff shell	Fits at the marked size
No wraps (classes, circuits)	Some find it loose	Comfortable, the S4's strength	Fine, though wrap anyway

What owners of both Hayabusas say

Some reviewers own the S4 and the T3, and their comparison is the same every time: the comfort is comparable, and the visible difference is that the S4's branding is printed while the T3's is stitched. Stop reading there and the S4 looks like the bargain of the decade. Read the topic counts and the picture changes: the S4's fit complaints, its break-in complaints and its one-year failures are exactly the things the T3 does not have. Comparable comfort on day one; different gloves in month twelve.

The verdict

Buy by hand, then by budget. Small or average hands, bag and pads with sparring on the horizon, about $100 to spend: the Venum Elite, at 10 or 12 oz for the bag and 14 or 16 oz if you will spar, sized up if you wrap thick. Large hands, hard hitting, a history of wrist trouble, or a decision to buy one pair and not think about gloves again: the Hayabusa T3 at 16 oz, and stop reading glove reviews. The Hayabusa S4 is the glove for small hands on an $80 budget, ordered a size up, with a year's use expected and a T3 in the plan. It is a good glove for the right hand and a returns label for the wrong one.

Sources

• Amazon.com product listings and customer reviews for the Venum Elite, Hayabusa S4 and Hayabusa T3, read in September 2026: star distributions, the "Customers say" summaries, topic counters and the recent and critical reviews. No review is quoted; frequencies are described in our own words.
• Amazon.com search results for “boxing gloves”, ranked by number of ratings, September 2026.
• Our own beginner glove ranking and glove-size guide.

Where to go next

• The ounce and fit rules in full: What Glove Size Do I Need?.
• The three gloves in company: The Best Boxing Gloves for Beginners.
• If the Elite and the S4 both sent you away: The Best Boxing Gloves for Small Hands.
• The stiff first fortnight, shortened: How to Break In Boxing Gloves.
• Before the 16 oz pair meets a person: Sparring Mistakes Beginners Make.