It's Showtime Announces Ghita v. Gerges, Souwer v. Pajonsuk

It's Showtime just keeps stacking their already ridiculously loaded 2010 Amsterdam ArenA show on May 10.  Two new fights have just been announced: Daniel Ghita v. Hesdy Gerges and Andy Souwer v. Pajonsuk.

Ghita v. Gerges is a very interesting fight between two of the hottest rising heavyweight stars in kickboxing today.  Ghita cemented his K-1 spot earlier this year with his record-setting win at the Tokyo Grand Prix, and was immediately crowned the future of K-1 for many fans.  Others point to the somewhat unimpressive names he defeated in the GP run and argue that Ghita is over-hyped.  The truth lies somewhere in the middle.  As a young fighter, Ghita has not yet faced many top names, but even before entering K-1 he displayed the kind of skills that will take him far in this sport and show him to be a fighter to watch. 

Similarly, Hesdy Gerges is a fighter some consider over-hyped, while some consider a major player.  He's had just one K-1 fight (a close loss to Schilt earlier this year), but for Gerges the hype just kicked in with his victory over Final 8 fighter Ruslan Karaev.  To defeat a fighter as well regarded as Karaev, and to defeat him easily, is no hype, and Gerges backs it up with other solid wins under his belt.  While not as experienced in K-1 as Ghita, Gerges does have the more impressive win on his resume, although again, some fans are unsold after just the Karaev fight.

For both men, this is a huge fight to silence the critics and move up the rankings, and it promises to be an exciting one.

Souwer v. Pajonsuk is a very tough test for the Thai fighter, but is by no means an easy win for Souwer.  While he does not have the high profile of other Thai fighters like Buakaw or Yodsaenklai, Pajonsuk made a strong name for himself in the international circuit a few years ago.  After taking some time off to focus on Olympic boxing, he has now returned full time to kickboxing and Muay Thai.  Described by It's Showtime's Simon Rutz as "the new Buakaw," he faces the always tough Andy Souwer.  For an opponent of Souwer the Buakaw comparison in interesting, as Buakaw famously used his Muay Thai skills to defeat Souwer in the 2006 MAX finals (and, depending on who you ask, also defeated him in 2005 and last weekend).  Souwer has shown that he is susceptible to a high level Muay Thai attack, and you know Pajonsuk will look to capitalize on the path laid out by Buakaw.

UPDATE: Two new fights just added.  Mourad Bouzidi v. Anderson "Braddock" Silva, and Rayen Simon v. Khalid Bourdif in Simson's retirement fight.  The Simson fight was originally rumored for Slamm 6 in November, but is now confirmed for It's Showtime.

The complete line-up for this amazing card now stands as follows:

Badr Hari v. TBD
Buakaw Por. Pramuk v. Chahid Oulad El Hadj
Murat Direkci v. Artur Kyshenko
Melvin Manhoef v. Tyrone Spong
Dzhabar Askerov v. William Diender
Gago Drago v. Leroy Kaestner
Andy Souwer v. Pajonsuk
Daniel Ghita v. Hesdy Gerges
Mourad Bouzidi v. Anderson "Braddock" Silva
Rayen Simson v. Khalid Bourdif