It's Showtime Unveils Big 2011 Plans

It's Showtime has spent the last years establishing themselves as the best fight game in Europe and the #2 worldwide kickboxing organization behind K-1.  Now, it looks like they are ready to take some big strides forward, as they have revealed a ton of exciting plans for 2011, including a bevy of new markets, great match-ups, and a collaboration with K-1 (along with a nicely revamped website).  It's a lot of info, so we'll run through the dates - here is everything they currently have scheduled for 2011:

March 6 - They kick off the year in Amsterdam at the Sporthallen Zuid, site of their latest show.  This is actually an important announcement, as there were concerns that politicians in Amsterdam were going to shut down kickboxing events in the city, which would have been a major blow for It's Showtime.  Glad to see that is not happening.  Two fights announced here.  The first is IS champion Hesdy Gerges v. Daniel Ghita.  Great fight there between two very evenly matched fighters both looking to establish themselves as part of the new guard in kickboxing.  We currently have Ghita ranked at #8 and Gerges at #11, so this one is very close.  Really looking forward to that.  Also announced: Artur Kyshenko v. Gago Drago.  Surprisingly, these two K-1 MAX fighters have not crossed paths yet.  Should be a fun fight.

March 26 - Next up is a show in Brussels.  Not many details yet on this one.

May 21 - This is the year's big Amsterdam ArenA show, which is always the marquee event of It's Showtime's year.  They had previously announced that this show would wrap up their inaugural IS Heavyweight =tournament.  Turns out that tournament won't be happening here, and will instead be postponed until 2012.  Here's IS explaining why: "The postponement is because we got to hear too late that we could organize an event in the Amsterdam ArenA next year. The time pressure would be too high for us to market such a new and big product very well."  Instead, the Arena show will be a joint event with K-1 and will serve as the 2011 European Qualifying GP for the K-1 World Grand Prix, with the winner moving on to the K-1 Final 16.  No names announced, but they are promising a big night.

July 3 - IS moves into Russia as they host an event in Sochi, home to the 2014 Winter Olympics, and this one looks to be spectacular.  They main feature here will be an 8 man 70kg tournament.  They announced the participants, and it's quite the line-up: Giorgio Petrosyan, Andy Souwer, Yoshihiro Sato, Gago Drago, Murat Direkçi, Dzhabar Askerov, Chris Ngimbi and Evgeniy Kurovskoy.  The only missing player here is Buakaw, but this is a great showing.  Good to have both Souwer and Petrosyan included, and I am glad Direkci is getting a shot at K-1's big guns.  Also on this card will be Hesdy Gerges v. Alexey Ignashov, and a fight I've been hoping to see announced for the past few weeks, L'houcine Ouzgni v. Artur Kyshenko.  Seriously, that's just a ridiculously stacked card.

Finally, they mentioned Germany, England, Spain and Greece as sites they are far along in the negotiations with, and expect to be added to their 2011 schedule.  No mention of their possible US expansion plans.

One thing to keep in mind is that IS likes to announce cards far in advance in order to build some anticipation and give the fighters ample time to prepare.  The only drawback is that sometimes injuries or other factors get in the way, so it's likely we'll see some changes by the time these cards take place - though IS always comes through with good replacements when changes occur.

Before 2011, the company still has to wrap up 2010 with a pair of shows.  This Saturday they are in Greece with a show headlined by Andy Souwer v. Pajonsuk and Murat Direkci v. Chris Ngimbi, along with Ignashov, Drago, and Chahid.  Then one week later they are back in Amsterdam for Ouzgni v. Levin, plus Freddy Kemayo, Mo Khamal, and more.  Both shows will be available to watch online at ShowtimeFights.

One final note - since last Wednesday they have had this cryptic message on their Facebook: "What is the connection between Mike Tyson and IT'S SHOWTIME? Coming soon..."  Excellent question.