It's Showtime Moves on Japan; Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Hinata Headlines July Event

It's Showtime will be teaming up with Japanese kickboxing promotion REBELS for an event to be held on July 18th. The news was recently announced on the REBELS official blog and confirmed by Nightmare of Battle.

The event, which will feature both kickboxing and Muay Thai bouts under the banner of both promotions, is set to be headlined by an interesting 70 kg. bout between divisional kingpin Giorgio Petrosyan and Japanese standout Hinata Watanabe.

Giorgio Petrosyan has continued to look dominant in recent bouts, taking decision victories over Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee and former King's Cup champion Cosmo Alexandre under the Fight Code banner in the first quarter of the year. The two-time K-1 MAX champion also thoroughly outworked Chahid Oulad el Hadj at It's Showtime Lyon on May 14th before an accidental low blow in the third round left the bout as a no contest.

Hinata Watanabe has established himself as a top 70 kg. kickboxer in Japan since coming up through the ranks of the R.I.S.E. promotion. After scoring a major victory over Mike Zambidis in 2009, the Japanese fighter was able to advance to the semifinal round of the K-1 World MAX 2010 Japan tournament. While he was ultimately knocked out by Hiroki Nakajima, Hinata was able to bounce back with a huge upset win over Artur Kyshenko last July. The 24-year-old has gone 2-1 since, being submitted by Andy Souwer in a Shootboxing bout and defeating both Andre Dida and South Korean, Woo Yong Choi.

While the bout between Petrosyan and Hinata is intriguing on its own merit, the near-simultaneous announcement that It's Showtime would be establishing a Japanese subsidiary in the near future could have some serious implications in the kickboxing world.

As stated by Nightmare of Battle:

It’s Showtime Japan will establish Japan rankings and champions in 8 weight classes (61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 77kg, 85kg, 95kg, and Heavyweight). With that an official road to becoming It’s Showtime world champion opens up for Japanese fighters.

Clearly, It's Showtime Japan is an entity that could stand to challenge the promotional outlook of K-1 while pushing to bridge the gap between domestic kickboxing in Japan and the world stage. While It's Showtime Japan may not be a reality until 2012, the Dutch promotion's play at the Japanese market could be a signal of more to come.