Anvar Boynazarov and Abdellah Ezbiri were the bonus award winners at last weekend’s GLORY 47 LYON event. They each receive an extra $5,000 payment for their standout performances, in addition to their contracted purse payments. Boynazarov scored the ‘Knockout of the Night’ award for his astonishing second-round finish of tournament favorite Fabio Pinca in the semi-final stages. Pinca took control of the bout early and looked to be on career-best form as he put on a superb display of trickery and timing. But late in the second round he allowed himself to be drawn into an exchange with Boynazarov and things changed in an instant: Boynazarov found a right cross/left hook combination which took Pinca off his feet and sent him to the canvas in dramatic fashion.
WOW! @anvar_muay delivers a HUGE knockout in the second round and advances to the featherweight tournament finals! #GLORY46 pic.twitter.com/Srr0nfVesz
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) October 28, 2017 In the other tournament semi-final, Ezbiri had a three-round war with Azize Hlali before progressing to the final, where he met Boynazarov.#AbdellahEzbiri and @anvar_muay close out the 3rd round swinging!!! The official decision is coming up next!#GLORY47 pic.twitter.com/qA5gGyt3Rk
— GLORY Kickboxing (@GLORY_WS) October 28, 2017 Boynazarov had a shorter fight in the semi-finals and so was expected to be fresher than Ezbiri, yet it was Ezbiri who pushed the pace for most of the fight. He outworked Boynazarov to earn a unanimous decision and win the Featherweight Contender Tournament. It was Ezbiri’s second tournament appearance for GLORY. The previous was all the way back at GLORY 8 TOKYO in 2012, when he took part in an eight-man featherweight tournament but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Gabriel Varga, who later went on to become champion in the division. GLORY’s next event takes place Friday, December 1 at Madison Square Garden in downtown New York City. The card features women’s champion Tiffany van Soest defending her title against Anissa Meksen and the GLORY debuts of UFC veterans Chris Camozzi and Thiago Silva.
