Singapore - July 12, 2012
Today we are delighted to confirm that our acquisition of It’s Showtime is complete. We are looking forward to working with Simon Rutz, Remon Daadler and their team in Holland and welcoming the athletes they represent to the GLORY platform. It’s Showtime will continue to stage events, beginning with the upcoming events in Tenerife, Spain on 21 July 2012, and in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 10 November 2012.
We are all unified in our purpose of bringing fans around the world the best possible matchups between the best fighters on the planet in order to deliver an incredible fan experience and bring the sport of Stand Up martial arts fighting to the level of global prominence it deserves.
We also want to take the opportunity to clarify a number of serious factual mis-statements contained in the press release distributed on 3 July 2012 by Mr. Gunil (Mike) Kim, the President of K-1. Our acquisition of the It’s Showtime business was conducted with the highest standards of professionalism, diligence, and integrity. In respect of Mr Kim's statements:
1) We confirm that the It’s Showtime partner in Madrid still has not been paid for its production and promotion of the K-1 event in that market on 27 May.
2) The It’s Showtime organization had provided all required payment information for the fighters who competed at the event to K-1 Global Holdings on time so that K-1 Global Holdings could remit payment to the fighters as per their contract. The payments were received after the requisite requirement date for payment had expired and only after the televised announcement of our deal with It’s Showtime.
3) Mr. Simon Rutz's contract for services with K-1 never prevented him from selling his business or conducting any work for other promotions.
4) K-1 still has not paid the fees it owes to Mr. Rutz under the contract. As a result, this contract is now terminated.
5) The management company representing all It’s Showtime fighters is now owned by GLORY
We congratulate Simon Rutz and his team on the business they have built, and look forward to working together. We will be announcing additional GLORY events for 2012 very soon. To all the fighters, trainers, promoters, and especially the fans around the world, we say to you, IT'S TIME FOR GLORY!************
GLORY World Series events were first organized nearly a decade ago but the company’s heritage stretches back to 1999 with the creation of Golden Glory, one of the most successful martial arts teams in history. In 2011 the people who drove that success partnered with some of the world’s top financial investors and sports marketers to create GLORY Kickboxing, the ultimate in Stand-Up fighting.
In July 2012, GLORY acquired the iconic European organisation ‘It’s Showtime’ and absorbed its roster of fighters. The deal brought all the world’s top-ranked kickboxers under one roof, making possible the kind of matches which fans could previously only dream of and ushering in a new golden age for the sport.
GLORY events are staged around the globe and, with over 30 nationalities represented on the roster, its events are truly the World Cup of Kickboxing. Its prestigious 16-man tournaments offer rewards unmatched by any other organisation in the field, with winners taking away a total of $1,000,000 in prize money.
With television deals in place in all the world's major regions - plus internet video streaming on http://www.gloryworldseries.com
powered by Invideous, a cutting-edge online pay-per-view system - GLORY has a worldwide reach and can deliver thrilling action to fight fans anywhere on the planet.
Owned and operated by Glory Sports International (GSI), the organisation has offices in the UK, Holland, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Its personnel include award-winning hedge-fund investors, the pioneering sports marketing agency Total Sport Asia and several executives from the Golden Glory and It’s Showtime team.
For more info log on to http://www.gloryworldseries.com