It's Showtime Announces Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Chris Ngimbi, December 17th

It's Showtime has announced that super welterweight kingpin Giorgio Petrosyan will be meeting promotional champion Chris Ngimbi at an event set for The Sand in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on December 17th.

The bout between Giorgio Petrosyan and Chris Ngimbi marks the first true sign of It's Showtime's effort to bring order to the ranks of its various weight classes. While finding real success, the promotion has generally oriented its events toward showcasing contracted talent in lieu of establishing an embedded set of weight classes. While the bout between Petrosyan and Ngimbi may do little for the promotion's lesser division - 73 kg., 95 kg., etc. - it is a great beginning to the process of making sure that championship contests are rooted in merit as much as name.

Giorgio Petrosyan has quite clearly been the top fighter at super welterweight for over two years and has posted a half-dozen wins under the It's Showtime banner alone. The two-time K-1 MAX champion's lone shortcoming at this point seems to be his recurring hand injuries. Petrosyan is also scheduled to meet Spain's Zeben Diaz at the It's Showtime event in Tenerife on November 12th.

Chris Ngimbi will enter the December bout not only as an underdog, but also with his early exit from the It's Showtime Fast and Furious tournament fresh in the minds of fans. There, Ngimbi was able to take a decision win over rival Murat Direkci before losing a decision to eventual tournament winner Robin van Roosmalen.

Petrosyan and Ngimbi have met once before, as Petrosyan took a three round decision in April 2008.

Look for additional news regarding the It's Showtime event on December 17th to come in the near future.