Gloves Off is too infrequent to be anything to rely on, sadly. Even the +2 variation is a 15% damage bonus around, maybe, 1/7th of the time. In comparison Challenger +2 can be around the same damage bonus at a far more frequent and reliable rate, and in the case of some monsters you can even force them into rage mode. I forget the actual modifiers on having higher levels of sharpness, but going from green to blue or even white is definitely a higher damage bonus than either of the above, in addition to letting you hit parts that you couldn't before.
The general set people have been using for low-rank is Ceanataur Head/Arms, Gore Chest/Waist, and any legs with Torso Up. (Tetsucabra, Alloy, Veloci, etc.). With a sharpener gem it gives Sharpness+1 and Quick sharpen, allowing you to maintain your elevated level of sharpness on the fly.
HOWEVER: It must be said that in low rank and high rank, weapons do not commonly get higher sharpness levels from S+1. You're generally only going to expand your green; thus, full Ceanataur is also an option with its Razor Sharp and Speed Sharpen. It must also be said that higher sharpness levels are a %based damage modifier, while easily accessible skills like Attack Up are flat bonuses. Until you reach mid-High rank to G-rank, you'll probably find yourself doing more damage with Attack Up L or XL than S+1 or gloves off. If you somehow get Challenger though, that does give flat raw damage in addition to an affinity bonus, so that's a strong option.
If you didn't know, Affinity is a % chance to do 25% extra damage, signified by purple hit sparks.
