By Mike LNg
Cosmo Alexandre airborne
Recently, Cosmo Alexandre was asked to participate in the upcoming King’s Birthday held annually in Bangkok, Thailand in commemoration of the King of Thailand’s Birthday. In response the It’s Showtime management have decided to ban Cosmos Alexander from all future events with It’s Showtime. It’s Showtime is a longtime kickboxing promoter of Holland and perhaps one of the biggest and best known kickboxing promotions internationally.
Cosmo originally drew attention from Muay Thai fans by capturing the World Professional Muay Thai Federation (WPMF) title in his days in Thailand. His profile grew further internationally by taking part in the EnFusion reality television series and kickboxing tournament. Cosmo Alexandre has since then busied himself internationally fighting Muay Thai and participating in the It’s Showtime kickboxing events.
In a prepared statement It’s Showtime had the following to say in regards to Cosmo Alexandre’s expulsion from it’s ranks.
IT’S SHOWTIME world title 77kg Max is vacant.
The IT’S SHOWTIME world title 77kg Max, which until today was in the possession of Brazilian fighter Cosmo Alexandre, is vacant as of now.
The reason for this is that Cosmo Alexandre accepted an invitation to fight in an 8 man tournament in Thailand for the King’s Cup, before his title defense against Aussie on December 18 in Amsterdam.
The tournament for the King’s Cup is on December 5, only 13 days before his title defense. Since Cosmo let us know that he will still fight on December 5, we have no other option than to take his IT’S SHOWTIME 77kg Max belt from him, also because this is the second time within a short term that he is showing a very unprofessional attitude.
At IT’S SHOWTIME, we have a standard procedure that no fighter is allowed to fight within 5 weeks before our event, unless he has written permission. Cosmo didn’t and still hasn’t got permission. We don’t want to take the risk that our guests will be confronted with an injured fighter right before the event. There is nothing else for us to do than exclude Cosmo Alexandre from our events for the rest of his career.
Aussie will fight for the world title on December 18 and we will soon announce a new opponent.
Cosmo Alexandre with Its Showtime gold
Cosmo Alexandre of course has responded and decided to clear the air on the very topic of his own blacklisting from Its Showtime events in perpetuity.
It is with great respect and gratitude to my fans, followers, the media, and all my fellow Muay Thai enthusiasts that I would like to take this opportunity and resolve any confusion that has surfaced from my “Its Showtime” match cancellation originally scheduled for December 18th. It is very common that Muay Thai Fighters often schedule fights just weeks apart with supportive examples of this demonstrated regularly in professional fighter’s records. I am dedicated to building my professional career and have been fortunate enough to simultaneously hold multiple titles with different organizations. Unfortunately two of those organizations are hosting events in the near future scheduled just 2 weeks apart. I was first contacted to fight in the 2010 Kings Cup in Thailand scheduled for December 5th so that I could defend my title and I accepted this challenge immediately. Having lived and trained in Thailand, I have made many friends and grown strong ties there, which subsequently, has become my home away from home. With out the slightest hesitation, I accepted this opportunity. A couple of months later I was contacted by “Its Showtime” to defend my title in Holland on December 18th and I accepted this match as well.
To be perfectly honest, the December 18th event was not a financially sound decision for me but my love of Muay Thai and the support of my fans made the decision easy! As a returning champion of the “Its Showtime” event with a title defense on the line, I thought that the respect and hospitality would be greater. Instead, they have insisted I absorb costs such as airfare and associated expenses with the trip to compete for this organization and defend a title I earned on their behalf! On top of this concern is the added frustration that the promoter takes 15% of the purse for himself leaving little, if any gain, with the most optimistic of dispositions being a victory. I have so much respect for the event, the fans, and everyone involved which is why I would never take any direct action that would purposely hinder the success of the event. I was never informed that there was a time frame allowance that would restrict me from competing as I had already committed. I was surprised with the release from the event, since I was sincerely looking forward to defending my belt that I worked so hard to earn. I hope that this explanation helps to clarify any misunderstandings and will keep rumors at bay. Even though I will not be competing in this event, I wish all the competitors the best of luck and continued success in their future endeavors
It’s the old story of promoters trying to squeeze exclusivity under pizza money conditions. Everybody says that they are trying to do this and that for the sport and they have this and that excuse. Anytime one tries to make them undergo normal contractual procedures they start to moan and whine as if they are nailed to a cross. And many of them, with all these things called “their sincere efforts to promote the sport”, add to the sandwich a generous share of being a control freak, that is: they try to do damage to others not for material profit but to reassure themselves that fighters (guys with beef and alpha male style of life) are lesser beings than they are (promoters are usually beer-belly type of zeta-male if any male trait is to be identified).
Now, of course, this portrait excludes me in the two circumstances of my life when it happened that I was a promoter, hahahaha.
In recent times Cosmo Alexandre has been trying to diversify his skill sets in hopes of perhaps even fighting in MMA while continuing to fight in Muay Thai.
Posted in News
Tags: Cosmo Alexandre, It's Showtime, King' Birthday, Muay Thai
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