New York -- Like most who favor the sweet science, count Stephen Espinoza among the crowd that would love to see Floyd Mayweather finally battle Manny Pacquiao.

Speaking at NewBay Media’s The Business of Live Television Summit here Tuesday, Espinoza, executive vice president, general manager Showtime Sports and Event Programming, Showtime Networks, Inc., said “we’re going to make another run at that. It’s something that should happen. I don’t know if it will” of the long-anticipated matchup between “Money” and “Pac Man.”

The fight, which would be pay-per-view gold and likely shatter boxing's $150 million revenue record for Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez, has been scotched in the past over disputes about drug testing methodologies and animus between the would-be participants. However, as Mayweather only has two bouts left on his six-fight contract with Showtime and Pacquiao is also nearing the end of his career, Espinoza remained hopeful that such a mega-bout could happen in 2015 during one of boxing/Mayweather’s May and  September windows.

Espinoza, who was interviewed by Multichannel News programming editor, R. Thomas Umstead, said that Mayweather’s most recent fight, another win over Marcus Maidana on Sept. 13 following their earlier confrontation in May, was a win for Showtime from broadcast, event and financial metrics.

He said that when it comes to great athletes – he called Mayweather, the Michael Jordan of boxing – fans only have a relatively short amount of time to appreciate their careers. “Tiger Woods was on top for 10 years;  Roger Federer for six.  For an athlete to be dominating a sport into his late thirties, to be undefeated for 17 years, to be regarded as one of the top fighters for 13 to 14 years, it’s rare that we get to see that kind of athletic performance.”

He said that Mayweather’s fights have been producing 900,000 to 1 million buys, but revenue have been supplemented by other platforms.  Espinoza said theater exhibition of Mayweather-Maidana was "a very big business." Harkening back to the closed circuit days before residential pay-per-view, there were 600 screens in play nationwide for Mayweather-Maidana, two thirds of which were "sold out at $20 a pop."

Espinoza said that exit polling revealed that most who witnessed the bout in the theater setting had visited the cineplex with the expectation to see a film; that two-thirds were not planning to buy the fight at home anyway; and that it was a very young demographic “This did not cannibalize the pay-per-view. This was completely additive,” Espinoza stated.

Similarly, he said Mayweather-Maidana picked up some business from Playstation users: “The fight performed at the upper end of UFC and WWE cards on this platform.  Again, this was additive from hard-core gamers.”

As to the value of live sports on Showtime, Espinoza said it’s somewhat difficult to get an exact read on why households subscriber to the premium service.

“We don’t monetize viewers through ads.  We don’t know who subscribes for boxing, for Dexter, for Ray Donovan or Homeland.  Generally, it’s probably a combination of it all,” he said. “But boxing and MMA appeal to different demos than say RayDonovan.  Boxing is slightly younger than the network overall and it’s more ethnic and educated than Showtime as a whole.”

Relative to PPV performance, it’s not only about the buys.  “We can’t get Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps or Roger Federer exclusively. But we can get the No. 1 boxer in Floyd Mayweather on our network. Sports has tremendous [promotional] value.  Pay-per-view is one of the only times we get to talk to non- subscribers. It provides multiple layers of value for the network.”

In Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman’s Ellis Boyd Redding character reads a letter from Tim Robbins’ Andy Dupree: "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

Given Floyd Mayweather’s post-fight comments after his unanimous decision in his rematch against Marcos Maidana, there’s a flicker of life in the boxing and distribution communities about the long-moribund prospects for a mega-fight with Manny Pacquaio. Maybe.

“We don't know what the future holds, as of right now," Mayweather said. "Anything is possible. At the moment I want to go home, have a break, spend some time with my children and then see who's next in May. Hopefully it's Manny Pacquiao.”

But the comments from "Money" also included some qualifiers before a "Pac Man" battle could ensue.  "If the Pacquiao fight does happen it has to happen on Showtime pay-per-view only and Mayweather Promotions have to do the fight.”

Pac Man, of course, is a member of Bob Arum’s Top Rank stable and HBO’s PPV camp.

Then, there’s the longstanding animus and mistrust between the men who have been boxing's best pound-for-pound pair for the better part of a decade.

A meeting in 2009 was scotched over disputes about drug-testing protocols. Mayweather has also made racial and homophobic slurs against Pacquiao, which many view as the undefeated champion running scared from the Filipino politician.

Of course to have any chance, Pacquiao has to take care of business in his welterweight defense against decided underdog Chris Algieri on Nov. 22 in Macau.

"I'm gonna go and talk to my team and see what the future holds," Mayweather said. "I don't know who I'm fighting in May but I expect to fight in May. Manny Pacquiao needs to focus on the guy in front of him. Once he gets past him, he can look to the future. If the Pacquiao fight presents itself let's make it happen."

That's hopeful. Should Pac Man hold up his end of the bargain in China -- maybe, just maybe -- the stage could finally be set for a megafight that would have been far more intriguing five years ago.

But time is running out on this sliver of PPV hope.

Both fighters are getting to the end – Mayweather is adamant he’s out after the two remaining fights on his six-bout contract with Showtime. CBS’s premium network would certainly appreciate a nice going away promotion(s) from Mayweather, who earned a minimum of $32 million on Saturday night. That figure will rise depending on how many bought the fight: the first Mayweather-Maidana bout reportedly drew just 900,000.

Mayweather and Pacquiao in May. Perhaps followed a year from now by a big Money finale, a rematch against Canello Alvarez – their September 2013 fight generated 2.4 million buys and a a PPV record $150 million in revenue.

Hope is a good thing ... and could be a very profitable thing.

Welterweight boxing champion Manny Pacquiao will return to the pay-per-view ring in November against contender Chris Algieri, HBO announced Saturday night.

Pacquiao will fight Algieri Nov. 22 in Macau, China where Pacquiao fought and defeated Brandon Rios last November. Pacquiao last fought April 12, defeating Timothy Bradley Jr. (pictured)  in a unanimous decision.

Pacquiao, once the biggest PPV draw in boxing, has generated more than 1 million buys combined for his last two fights.

Algieri earned his shot at Pacquiao after upsetting Ruslan Provodnikov in a June 14 junior welterweight championship fight.

The Pacquiao-Algieri fight is the second major PPV boxing match scheduled for this fall, following Showtime Sports’ Sept. 13 Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana event.