Details on the HDNet Partnership with It's Showtime
by Fraser Coffeen on May 17, 2011 3:11 PM EDT
in Kickboxing
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Late last week, HDNet announced an exciting new partnership with It's Showtime. Now, we have some more details on these broadcasts, and it's all exciting news for fans of the stand-up game. First up, here are the details, courtesy of HDNet:
HDNet announces a long term deal with "It's Showtime," Europe's leading kickboxing promotion provided by Fighting Spirit, the international fight sport programming distributor... In 2011, the promotion will present ten events for HDNet from venues across Europe.
We spoke to HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon to get a bit more clarification, and he was able to offer us the following details:
- Their goal is to "cover all It's Showtime events for years to come," hopefully live at some point.
- Michael "The Voice" Schiavello will be providing commentary for the events. HDNet is still trying to decide who The Voice's partner will be, and Simon encourages fans to send him suggestions on who they want to see via twitter @andrewhdnet.
- This deal is not impacted in any way by the lack of K-1 programming at the moment. If K-1 begins producing shows again, they will remain a part of HDNet Fights as well.
Again, for anyone who is a fan of kickboxing and stand-up action (and has access to HDNet) this couldn't be better news. Since K-1's demise/hibernation, It's Showtime has become the top kickboxing organization in the world. They are routinely putting on strong events featuring top 25 fighters, and they are doing so in an ever expanding number of markets. Over the past year, I've spoken to It's Showtime CEO Simon Rutz about the prospect of him bringing a show to the United States - an idea he is open to if there is a suitable market here. The shows being broadcast on HDNet is a great step towards creating that market and increasing interest in kickboxing here in the US.
The first It's Showtime event on HDNet will air this Friday, May 20, at 11:00 p.m. It will be a broadcast of last weekend's event from Lyon, France, which featured Badr Hari, Tyrone Spong, Giorgio Petrosyan, and more. If you missed the show, it was a fun, action-packed event with a lot of good KO's. Add in commentary from The Voice and HDNet production values, and this is a must watch and a great way to intriduce yourself to It's Showtime. The company has 3 more events coming up in the next month, including a smaller show in Amsterdam this weekend - keep an eye on HDNet to see when those get added to the schedule.
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There will be no farting on Schiavello.
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Sorry. Different strokes I guess. He gets your affection. He gets my mute button.
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by Kevin Haggerty on May 17, 2011 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Kickboxing more exciting than MMA
the big K-1 shows were really entertaining and made me (an MMA fan) a big fan of the sport and for while there, I was more excited about the big K-1 shows than any UFC PPV, alas, K-1 faded into obscurity and I hope “It’s Showtime” can bring the same excitement.
It's great that HDNet got this deal.
I, however, wanted to watch those fights live and paid to do so last Saturday. I hope HDNet can get these events live son, I hate waiting a week or two and I end up seeing the results somewhere before it comes on always.
Sweeet!
I didn’t catch the It’s Showtime broadcast with Voice/Manhoef how did they do?
I’ll throw my vote in for Mo Lawal as Mike’s sidekick
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. - Bruce Lee
Mo? Please no.. I thought he was really bad the last time he was on an HDNet broadcast (I forget which event it was). He doesn’t seem knowledgeable enough about kickboxing and frankly he just wasn’t any good in the booth.
I can’t really think of any great suggestions myself though, but of the ones they’ve used in the past I think Guy Mezger usually does a decent job. Sefo is also okay I guess. Hopefully at least Kogan should be out of the question since he works for K-1, which is good news.
by Horselover Fat on May 17, 2011 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Iz u fer real? I could listen to Mo say “Supa-NIUGH” all.. night..
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. - Bruce Lee
Okay, a matter of taste obviously, but personally I didn’t like it at all, I thought he was very bad. I don’t usually dislike the guy or anything though, but commenting on kickboxing is not something he should be doing.
by Horselover Fat on May 17, 2011 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Voice/Manhoef
Don’t know – they did the commentary expressly for HDNet’s production, which has yet to air. Tune in Friday and find out!
Sefo would be a good choice. I also like Mark Castagnini who does the Australian Muay Thai shows with Voice, though I doubt he would want to travel all the time.
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by Fraser Coffeen on May 17, 2011 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I like Sefo too, but I like Kogan better in that spot. Castagnini is another good choice. Guy Metzger with periodic kickboxer thrown in? Hoost?
Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. - Bruce Lee
I dug Sefo as well.
I liken him to Randy when he would call a UFC. Just an inviting, comfortable, yet knowledge presence in the booth.
I'm really happy about this
Even though I still feel MMA is the closest thing to a real fight as a sport, I fuckin LOVE to watch two guys just stand up & beat the shit out of each other. It’s crazy that kickboxing isn’t more popular in america. Just needs more exposure. I know after I became an MMA fan, I discovered K-1 & quickly realized it’s more exciting than boxing if you just wanna watch a stand-up fight.
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by Benny Blanco from the BriX on May 17, 2011 4:35 PM EDT reply actions
for sure. I consider myself an equal fan of all three sports,but while boxing has the richest history and tradition,and MMA is the most well rounded & closest to a real fight….nobody touches kickboxing in excitement and stacked cards in my opinion.
and the 70 kg weight class,like Petrosyan, Masato, Souwer, Buakaw, Kyshenko,etc… striking-wise those guys are on a level that we never saw before.
"Its not about the size of the dog in the fight...its about the size of the fight in the dog"
by SoulBrotherNo1 on May 17, 2011 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions
+1 Ray Sefo
Obviously my first pick would be Voice and El Guapo, but I’ll take Sugar Ray Sefo any day. I always enjoy his K-1 commentating, and to see him become a regular part of the HDNet commentary team for It’s Showtime would be even better.
So, just to clarify
All of you enjoy Schiavello?
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