Earlier today, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports, Stephen Espinoza, took to Twitter and responded to several fans asking questions about the alleged negotiations that Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum claims are taking place between himself and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves for the mega-fight between undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather and 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Ever since Arum first made the revelation prior to Pacquiao's lopsided unanimous decision victory over the previously undefeated jr. welterweight champion Chris Algieri, there have been a number of rumors floating around on the internet.
First there were stories of Mayweather requesting a rematch clause (which is typically standard anytime elite fighters like Mayweather and Pacquiao fight). Next there were whispers of Mayweather demanding 2/3 of the money split. And of course anytime there are rumblings about Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, there's always some investor from the United Arab Emirates offering $100 million or more to stage the fight in Abu Dhabi. Eventually, all of those reports ultimately lead to someone publishing a story claiming that the fight is a done deal and set to be announced some time soon. Stop me if you've heard all of this before.
Thus far, all the talk regarding these "negotiations" has come from members of Pacquiao's side, including promoter Bob Arum, trainer Freddie Roach, and Pacquiao himself. According to Arum, talks have been taking place at "the top level" between individuals like himself, Moonves, and HBO CEO Richard Plepler, and because of that, "guys like Stephen Espinoza, who report from time to time about rejected offers, have been told to shut their mouth because they're not part of the discussion." To this day, however, there have been no comments publicly made by anyone representing the business interests of Mayweather, and Moonves reportedly declined to comment "out of respect for the privacy of the talks."
Although Arum claims that Espinoza was told to "shut his mouth" regarding the talks, apparently he still has the use of his fingers. Check out some of his responses to questions that were asked of him.
On reports regarding Stephen A. Smith's comments on ESPN First Take stating that Showtime lost $16 million on Mayweather's last two fights:
Lost money? Comedy. We're good. Floyd made $, as did we. "@twash_bag: showtime lost $ on mayweather. Is that pacquio's kid you're holding ?"
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) December 7, 2014@twash_bag @upperwestbruin @mrsantosII Comedy. Mathematically impossible to have lost $16M. And my job is to get fights on SHO, not PPV.
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) December 7, 2014On reports that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is a done deal and heading to Abu Dhabi (note the sarcasm):
Thanks. See you in Abu dhabi. "@gibbo889: @StephenEspinoza congradulations on getting mayweather pacquio done"
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) December 6, 2014How would I know? I'm not involved, right? "@ReneJVega: @StephenEspinoza Is the @FloydMayweather vs Pacquiao fight a done deal?"
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) December 6, 2014On rumors that Espinoza has been given an ultimatum by Moonves to make the fight a reality:
@Abouthundreds Absolute absurdity. Funniest (and least true) things I've heard in a long time.
— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) December 6, 2014There were more comedic and sarcastic replies from Espinoza, so make sure you head on over to his Twitter account at @StephenEspinoza to check them out.
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