There’s a reason the Rocky movies don’t feature fights which are one-sided easy wins. It’s because few things are as exciting in sports as seeing a hero overcome adversity and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Some of the comebacks witnessed in the GLORY ring last year would not have looked out of place in a movie themselves. But, they were all real. Fans felt that Kevin VanNostrand’s comeback against Anvar Boynazarov was the most impressive of the crop. VanNostrand was on home soil at GLORY 48 NEW YORK. The interim featherweight championship was on the line and Boynazarov nearly secured it with a knockout left hook early in the first round. One event prior, at GLORY 47, Boynazarov had hit Fabio Pinca with that same hook and knocked him out. It is a proven fight-finisher but VanNostrand was somehow able to get back up off the canvas and back into the fight. Boynazarov thought he had the win in the bag and rushed VanNostrand looking for a finish. But VanNostrand read his mind. When Boynazarov rushed in he ran right onto a lazer-sharp knee to the midsection which sent him to the canvas in agony. Where VanNostrand succeeded in regaining his feet, Boynazarov failed. He remained on his knees, doubled over in pain as the referee counted him out and awarded VanNostrand the title. And the craziest part? The whole thing took just 76 seconds. Also nominated: Rico Verhoeven was in all sorts of trouble against Jamal Ben Saddik in the first round of their GLORY REDEMPTION fight in December, but managed to hang in there, get back into the fight and then take control before ending it with a knockout in the fifth and final round. Robert Thomas was down on the scorecards against Warren Thompson at GLORY 44 CHICAGO. Going into the third and final round his corner told him he needed a knockout to win. So he went out there and got it, stopping Warren with a big right hand in the final frame. Tyjani Beztati is a rising star of the lightweight scene but he ran into trouble against Youseff Assouik at GLORY 41 HOLLAND when he got dropped by a spinning backfist. Beztati gritted it out and came back to dominate the later rounds and win a clear decision.
