News on Badr Hari and the It's Showtime HW Tournament

It's been a fast and furious news week from It's Showtime.  After announcing that Melvin Manhoef would take part in Dynamite on New Year's Eve, the company has revealed a few more big news items.

First up is a somewhat cryptic but potentially exciting update on the MIA Badr Hari.  Yesterday, the company wrote: "K-1 hopes Badr Hari can fight on the K-1 World Grand Prix Final event in Japan, December 11."  I assume that means K-1 has contacted It's Showtime (who manages Hari) in the hopes of getting him on the card.  That's good news right there, but since then they have added that Badr will go to the police this afternoon in an effort to sort out the nightclub incident from earlier this year.  Badr was accussed of being involved in the assault of a bouncer this spring in Amsterdam.  He denied the charges, but did not respond to police requests for questioning, instead leaving the country.  Getting this incident sorted out is a key step to Badr getting his career restarted, so I'm excited to hear this news.  We've still got a way to go, but it looks like we just might see the Golden Boy back in action before the year ends.

Also announced were details on the It's Showtime Heavyweight Tournament.  This inaugural tournament will take place next year, with a round of 16 on March 6 and the final 8 taking place at their yearly Amsterdam Arena show in May.  The first 4 participants were announced: Melvin Manhoef, Daniel Ghita, Gokhan Saki, and Tyrone Spong.  This is the exact kind of all-action line-up I would expect from It's Showtime, and it's a good start, as I would be happy to see any combination of these 4 men against each other.  More names could come as the week continues.

UPDATE: Make that 5 participants, as It's Showtime Heavyweight champion Hesdy Gerges was just added.