Will Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza Stay In Boxing?
Stephen Espinoza has revealed that he could still have a role in the sport following Showtime’s exit from boxing at the end of the year.
The head of Showtime has been in the role for around 12 years. Espinoza decided to give up his legal career to purse this path. Espinoza has presided over some of the biggest names in boxing, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. Following Showtime’s announcement, there were question marks over where Espinoza would go next. After the news that PBC and Amazon Prime have signed a multi-fight contract to air their boxing fights, Espinoza could still play a part in boxing moving ahead.
Espinoza’s Future
“Certainly, boxing was near and dear to my heart before it started. It’s still very much in my blood. There’s a piece of me that very much wants to continue. What we built over the last 12 years has a lot of momentum, a lot of interesting guys that we’ve discovered and helped build and there’s a big part of me that wants to continue that. I’m also looking at other opportunities. I would just say the decision hasn’t been made, but there is a very good possibility that I would continue in boxing,” Espinoza said
Outside of that, Espinoza also gave his take on the PBC-Amazon merger. The deal will see the platform broadcast its first PPV in March next year. Gervonta Davis is being linked with headlining it on a platform that has 167 million subscribers in the US alone. That market is enormous, given the potential to reach audiences on a global scale quickly.
But one question remains over whether Showtime personnel will crossover. Espinoza expressed his desire to see that happen, given their extensive experience. Showtime this year has put on the three most significant fights in the sport. The Davis-Garcia, Spence-Crawford, and Canelo-Charlo fights produced gates of over $20 million. That has shown that Showtime was at the top of its game, which could be replicated with the new venture.
Espinoza On PBC
“I would love to see either the Showtime production team continue in whole or in large part in contributing going forward. The reality is PBC is going to be responsible for production and PBC has not previously overseen that on the domestic side.
“They obviously produce the international feed as people have learned pretty aggressively over the last couple of weeks. But there is not the full production on the domestic side. My pitch whether I’m involved or not, with PBC or Amazon, going forward, I would enthusiastically pitch the team we have at Showtime,” Espinoza
Showtime is preparing for its last card between David Morrell Jr. and Sena Agbeko on December 16th. That will see Showtime leave with the dawn of a new era. PBC and Amazon have a tough act to follow, so any input from Showtime personnel would be welcomed.
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