It's Showtime Adds Melvin Manhoef, Errol Zimmerman to January 2012 Event

by Brent Ducharme on Sep 10, 2011 12:13 AM EDT in It's Showtime News

It's Showtime head Simon Rutz continues to release intriguing information about the promotion's plans for January 2012. It seems that both Melvin Manhoef and Errol Zimmerman will be included on the It's Showtime card set for January 28th in the Netherlands. Melvin Manhoef has been absent from the kickboxing ring for some time, while Errol Zimmerman has looked to bounce back from a stretch of mixed results over the past couple years.

The announcement, from Rutz on Facebook, reads as follows:

Today 2 other big fighters agreed to fight januari 28 th in the netherlands on our it's showtime event; errol zimmerman and Melvin Manhoef.
The fighterlist is now; Badr Hari, Tyrone Spong, Daniel Ghita, Gokhan Saki, Hesdy Gerges, Errol Zimmerman, Melvin Manhoef, Ben Edwards, Rico Verhoeven! We announce the location and matchmaking before the end off this month. Ticketsales starts october 15. Only 5000 tickets availble.

It's already been over a year since Melvin Manhoef has fought in a kickboxing match. His last bout was a May 2010 loss to Gokhan Saki. Manhoef was stripped of the It's Showtime 85 kg. MAX title earlier this year, a title now held by Sahak Parparyan. While It's Showtime has managed to build up some of its other weight classes in 2011, 85 kg. has remained pretty stagnant, save the exciting title fight between Parparyan and Amir Zeyada. The division could get a much-needed boost if Manhoef is to jump back into the mix.

Errol Zimmerman will fight under the It's Showtime banner for the first time in over two years when he is featured in January. The Golden Glory fighter stands at 3-0 this year, with his biggest win being a decision over Mourad Bouzidi. Zimmerman's underwhelming showing against Ewerton Teixeira at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final marked a fitting end to a very troubling period in his career. His entrance into a pretty deep heavyweight division is certainly intriguing, and should offer fans a real chance to reassess where he stands.

Tweet Comment 2 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

That's great hustle, It's Showtime.

I’ve been wanting to see Manhoef back in a KBX ring for a while.

Any thoughts on matchmaking, Brent?

Follow me on Twitter or Russell Mora will let Abner Mares grind your balls into a fine mist! @BVandDietPepsi

by BVandDietPepsi on Sep 10, 2011 12:30 AM EDT reply actions

Well, first and foremost, it's great that they're avoiding a tournament format.

I hope they’re not going to blow the chance to headline a whole bunch of events with match ups that casual fans (is there such a thing in kickboxing? semi-casuals? I don’t know) will want to see by stacking this card with heavyweight fights.

As far as the specifics of the heavyweights, they’ll be mentioning some match ups soon enough.

Now, what I’d like to see? Errol Zimmerman needs to be in there against one of the top guys. Personally, I’d say Saki and Zimmerman is fine. We were supposed to see it happen in Rotterdam, never did, now is as good as ever. Saki looked pretty good in his win over Brice Guidon, but I’ve been told Guidon also had a broken hand. I wouldn’t mind seeing him take another test from one of those guys perceived to be just a notch under him.

I’d also like to see Hari and Gerges II.

Throw Edwards and Verhoeven in there – most people aren’t going to be too keen on it, I’m sure, but it tells us a little about the lower edge of the high international talent pool.

Assuming that Manhoef stays in the appropriate weight class, this is a really great chance for them to build some interest at 85 kg. It’s just a matter of them not leaving the 85 kg. division at being about a yearly feature bout for Manhoef or something.

by Brent Ducharme on Sep 10, 2011 12:48 AM EDT up reply actions