Hall of Fame honour for kickboxing champion Phil Glover from Maltby

Phil Glover, from Maltby, had his first fight way back in 1979 and has dedicated his retirement years to coaching.

He was invited as special guest to a large fight show in Alfreton recently not knowing there was also a special surprise in store when his name was announced in the ring before the main bouts.

Phil had been nominated by a board of elite Kickboxing champions for the Kickboxing Life Stories' Hall Of Fame.

The promoter, former world Kickboxing champion Dale Wood, was on hand to present Phil with his award.

“It is quite an honour,” said Phil. “What's good about it is that the people who decided on it are all ex-world champions and they're all at the top of their game in kickboxing and martial arts. It is nice to be rewarded by people like that.”

Last year Phil was interviewed for a You Tube piece called “Phil Glover — Kickboxing Life Stories”.

It went into depth about how and why he started in martial arts, the fights that he had throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s and what made him become a British and European champion under various rules in the ring.

Phil's latest accolade is his second Hall Of Fame award.

He was also nominated by Martial Arts Illustrated magazine's version as a “Kickboxing Legend” in 2012 for being a pioneer of the sport and his achievements over a very long fight career spanning three decades in the ring.

Although Phil retired after a second attempt at the World Kickboxing Association Super-Featherweight title in 1998, he is still popular at fight shows.

To this day he still enjoys teaching with the same passion he had back when he was a fighter.

He still teaches Muay Thai classes at Maltby Thai Boxing Club in Maltby and does one-to-one private tuition classes at the Unity Boxing Centre on Aldwarke Lane.

“It is over 20 years now since I had my last fight. To still get recognition is really nice,” added Phil.