Is professional kick-boxing nearly dead as a sport on a major level? It has to be considered close at this point as the sport’s biggest tournament, the K-1 World Grand Prix, has been cancelled per Simon Rutz. Rutz is president of It’s Showtime, the other large promoter of kickboxing in the world besides K-1.
In a statement on the It’s Showtime website, Rutz stated the following:
“This year there will be no K-1 Final Elimination and K-1 World Grand Prix Final for the following reasons:
– It’s currently unknown which investor gets Mr. Ishii’s signature.
– There’s not enough time left to organize such a big event.
– The visas for the fighters to travel to China haven’t been arranged and these are essential to be able to fight there.
The decision to not rush into crazy things is a wise one, because severe mistakes that could cause more unnecessary damage to the K-1 label are being prevented.”
With Alistair Overeem and Badr Hari both leaving for pastures outside the sport in MMA and boxing respectively, and other top fighters like Tyrone Spong thinking of switching, professional kick boxing is in a dark time right now.
