Now it’s Van Damme and Tyson for the north

THE LEGENDARY martial artist  Jean Claude Van Damme and former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson are due to visit the occupied north on October 9.

According to the Turkish press, the pugilistic duo are coming to see a mixed martial arts cage fight at the Port Cratos hotel in Kyrenia; the same venue at which R&B superstar Jennifer Lopez planned to perform earlier this year before a global protest forced her to pull out.

The event is being organised by the Extreme Fighting Championships (XFC) promotions company, which has previously held tournaments in the United States. It is the XFC’s twelfth tournament but the first to be held in Cyprus.

Speaking about the venue, XFC President John Prisco said “We are ecstatic to build our brand in Cyprus and the surrounding area and plan on delivering a quality show there like only the XFC can.”

Van Damme and Tyson’s attendance is likely to draw strong criticism from the many thousands people who opposed the occupation, and who have previously protested against invitations of celebrities.

In July this year, more than 22,000 people joined the Facebook group “Against Jennifer Lopez performing in occupied Cyprus” and in August 9300 protestors joined a Facebook group in an unsuccessful bid to prevent R&B star Rihanna from performing in the occupied areas.

The event has already been opposed by Greek Cypriots. Cratos chairman Murat Bozoglu told Kibris newspaper that the hotel was unable to complete a contract with the XFC team for a full week because of pressure from Greek Cypriots.

Bozoglu said: “Eventually we signed and agreed on a contract for 500 thousand dollars. This show is very important for Cyprus because the world’s biggest stars will come to Cyprus to watch the show.”

Prisco said that he was planning to hold more events in the future and try to draw in local talent, and even set up XFC training facilities.

“We are looking forward to adding some local fighters to our cards there in the future as we plan on doing multiple events there every year,” said Prisco.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.