Showtime on April 22 will step back into the pay-per-view boxing ring to distribute the highly anticipated pay-per-view boxing match between undefeated fighters Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia.

The fight will take place in Las Vegas and will pit the 28-0 former super lightweight champion Davis against the 23-0 former lightweight champion Garcia. The fight marks Showtime’s second 2023 PPV event featuring Davis, following its January 7 Davis-Hector Garcia fight card. 

Showtime will also distribute a March 25 pay-per-view event featuring a super middleweight bout between David Benavidez and Caleb Plant.

Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinzoa said during Thursday’s Los Angeles press conference for Davis-Garcia that the fight will have special appeal to longtime boxing fans. “This is a throwback fight – it’s a fight and a rivalry as big as any in this sport,” he said. “Two young fighters in their prime who are the most exciting young fighters in the sport.”■  

Showtime hopes to give a big promotional punch to Saturday’s Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugás welterweight championship pay-per-view fight by showcasing a live fight card on the premium channel and on YouTube leading into the PPV event. 

The premium network enters the pay-per-view boxing ring for the first time this year with its Spence-Ugás event, which will retail at a suggested price of $79.99. The fight, a unification of three welterweight titles, pits arguably the sport’s pound-for-pound champion in Spence against Ugás, who defeated Manny Pacquiao last August. Spence was initially scheduled to fight Pacquiao, but had to pull out of the fight with an eye injury. 

Showtime Sports & Event Programming President Stephen Espinoza said Spence is also among the sport’s biggest PPV draws, having pulled in nearly 500,000 buys for his last fight, a 2020 win against Danny Garcia. His return to the ring after the eye injury should drive boxing fans’ interest in the fight. 

“We have a long history with Spence going back to his pro debut, and this matchup falls right within our wheelhouse of us trying to provide elite matchups at the highest level of the sport,” he said.

Showtime will support the fight with a live, two-fight boxing event that will air on the premium service Saturday night prior to the PPV event. Espinoza said the fight card -- which features the Radzhab Butaev-Eimantas Stanionis welterweight bout as well as the Brandun Lee-Zachary Ochoa super lightweight match -- is also one of the main highlights of the network’s current subscriber acquisition campaign offering Showtime free to non-subscribers for 30-days. The Showtime fight card will also be offered for free on the network’s YouTube page. 

“There’s a lot of value in this offering,” Espinoza said. “We’re trying to make it as easy for subscribers and non-subscribers to enjoy a great day of boxing as possible.”

Espinoza wouldn’t predict how many buys Spence-Ugás would generate, but he did say that he expects the fight to do very well. “This is as tough of a fight as Errol has had arguably in his career, and with the stakes of three championship belts on the line, there’s a lot to attract the boxing fan," he said. "Errol has a pretty well established track record of over 300,000 pay-per-view buys in his past fights – we certainly see that as a floor with the potential for more than that.”

Spence-Ugás is the first of at least four PPV boxing events Showtime is planning to distribute in 2022. The network already has scheduled a May 28 Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Rolando Romero PPV fight. Espinoza said Showtime will use the PPV platform only for big PPV events featuring the top fighters in the sport.

“Pay-per-view is a useful tool to help finance fights that wouldn’t otherwise happen without the pay-per-view revenue mechanism,” he said. “Our core business remains programming for Showtime – we have the deepest and highest profile schedule of any network in the sport – but occasionally we have to use that mechanism to allow fights to happen.” ■

Lightweight boxing champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis will headline a May 28 pay-per-view boxing card on Showtime, part of an extensive network lineup of televised boxing shows over the next four months.

Davis will defend his title against Rolando Romero on a pay-per-view fight card distributed by Showtime. The fight follows the network’s April 16 PPV boxing event featuring welterweight champions Errol Spence and Yordenis Ugas.

Other high-profile fighters set to appear on Showtime through July include middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, super middleweight champion Jermell Charlo and former champion David Benavidez, said the network. 

“When you consider the competitive nature of these fights, the star power of fighters like Errol Spence Jr., ‘Tank’ Davis, David Benavidez, the Charlo brothers, and the youthful vitality of Stephen Fulton Jr., Jaron Ennis and Brandun Lee, it’s never been clearer that Showtime is the destination for the most compelling fights and will be for years to come,” Showtime Sports & Event Programming President Stephen Espinoza said in a statement.   

Also: Errol Spence, Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez to Step into PPV Boxing Ring This Spring

Showtime's upcoming TV boxing schedule featuring main event fights is as follows:  

• March 26: Tim Tszyu-Terrell Gausha, super welterweights. 
• April 9: Erickson Lubin-Sebastian Fundora, super welterweights. 
• April 16 (PPV): Errol Spence Jr.- Yordenis Ugas, welterweight championship unification. 
• May 14: Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano II super welterweight championship unification. 
• May 21: David Benavidez-David Lemieux, super middleweights.
• May 28 (PPV): Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero, lightweight world championship. 
• June 18: Jermall Charlo-Maciej Sulecki, middleweight world championship.
• July 9: Mark Magsayo-Rey Vargas, featherweight championship. 

Showtime will continue its busy 2021 pay-per-view boxing campaign in November with the distribution of the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant super middleweight unification fight.

The Nov. 6 fight from Las Vegas will pit arguably the PPV boxing category’s biggest draw in WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight champion Alvarez against IBF super middleweight champion Plant.  

The event -- Alvarez’s first appearance on Showtime in nearly nine years --  will mark the latest PPV boxing event the premium service has distributed this year following its June 6 Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul bout, its July 3 Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios fight and its Aug. 29 Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley event. 

“2021 has been a phenomenal year for Showtime Boxing,” said Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza during the event’s Sept. 21 press conference.. “It’s one of our most prolific years in recent memory … we are proud to welcome Canelo Alvarez back to Showtime and we also welcome Caleb Plant for his Showtime debut.”  

The fight joins the ESPN/Fox Sports-distributed Oct. 9 Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder trilogy fight as well as Triller’s Oct. 4 Teófimo López-George Kambosos Jr. boxing event on the Fall PPV boxing card. 

The heavily hyped Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor pay-per-view boxing match proved to be worth the wait for both distributors and fans, and industry executives said they hope it boosts future pay-per-view boxing and UFC events.

Showtime last Friday reported that the fight, in which boxer Floyd Mayweather improved his record to 50-0 with a 10th round TKO over the game UFC/mixed martial arts champion McGregor — is expected to draw in the “mid to high” 4 million PPV buy range, which would potentially knock out the record 4.6 million buys generated by Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. It could also eclipse the $450 million generated by the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout.

“We consider this a huge success,” Showtime Sports and Event Programming executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza told Multichannel News. “We could very well break the record — we just haven’t seen enough of the data to definitively say that — we’re either over the record or very close. Even if we don’t break the record, it’s still a massive success.”

Some MVPDs were reportedly overwhelmed by a flurry of last-minute fight purchases, to the point where Showtime officials said the Mayweather-McGregor main event was “slowed down” to allow distributors to complete orders. Espinoza, though, said there were no major distributor problems regarding buys. “We didn’t even experience the level of technical issues that we saw on Mayweather-Pacquiao,” he added.

Espinoza also called reports that the network’s new Showtime PPV app suffered major technological problems during the event “exaggerated,” saying that the network only received a “limited” number of complaints, which were quickly addressed. Showtime will provide refunds to those who were unable to see the purchased event, he added.

UFC’s website UFC.TV also struggled to keep up with demand, prompting the company to issue several post-fight statements regarding the issue. UFC said it is reviewing each consumer complaint on a “case-by-case basis,” adding that it was “disappointed by the technical difficulties that were experienced … We are working with our vendor NeuLion to assess exactly what happened.”

UFC president Dana White also said in a statement: “Nothing is more important to the UFC than our fans. They’ve always been incredibly loyal and supportive, and we’ll always take care of them.”

Some 3 million viewers watched the fight illegally, according to video security company Irdeto. Espinoza admitted that it was nearly impossible to totally eliminate illegal viewing of the fight given its magnitude.

“Like all events with this kind of appeal, we’re going to have people who will try to view it illegally,” he said. “We took, along with our partners, unprecedented action both before and during the fight to block and remove as many of the illegal streams as possible. ”

Despite the online problems, most industry observers said the fight inside the ring was better than expected, with UFC champion McGregor holding his own in his first ever boxing match, and will easily finish as the year’s most lucrative PPV event.

Former HBO head of pay-per-view Mark Taffet said the fight will generate significant momentum for both the PPV boxing and UFC categories. Both sports have PPV events scheduled over the next two weeks: The UFC will distribute its Sept. 9 UFC 215 pay-per-view event featuring Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg, while HBO will offer its Sept. 16 Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin bout.

“Mayweather-McGregor clearly exceeded fans’ expectations, and that is great news for both boxing and UFC,” Taffet said. “It bodes well for both sports, and I think it’s one of those great instances in which everyone comes out a winner — boxing, MMA, McGregor, Mayweather and the fans.”

The boxing match many sports fans fantasized about but never thought would happen is now a reality. Showtime PPV will distribute the Aug. 26 Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor boxing match, a unique matchup between Mayweather, an undefeated 40-year old boxer and McGregor, a 26-year-old UFC mixed martial arts champion.

The 12-round fight, which will be fought at a 154-pound limit – well above Mayweather’s typical 147 fighting weight but near McGregor’s natural fighting weight – is expected to draw a lot of attention and millions of dollars in pay-per-view revenue.

Spearheading the fight’s distribution is Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, who spoke to me Wednesday night to discuss the big event and its potential to break all PPV event performance marks. An edited version of the interview appears below.

Tom Umstead: How did this fight finally come about?

Stephen Espinoza: Not sure anyone would have predicted this a year ago, but what started as a bit of bravado and a challenge thrown out between two mega stars has all of the sudden turned into a main event.

TU: Any suggested retail price for the PPV event?

SE: It’s still being discussed. That’s one of the ironies of the fight: the fighter’s deal got done so quick that was finished before the particulars of the event.

TU: What is the appeal of this fight?

SE: In a sport that’s often filled with hyperbole there really is no exaggeration to say that this event is truly unprecedented – its unprecedented in the nature of the competition: its unprecedented in its magnitude and the attention that it is receiving and will receive; and its unprecedented in the types of personalities that we have participating. Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor have taken the art of self-promotion and backed it up with excellence in the ring and elevated into an art form. We’ve certainly had colorful characters in boxing and in MMA before, but to get arguably the two most talked about athletes in each sport taking aim against each other in the same competition adds exponentially to the appeal of the event.

TU: Can this fight break the record of 4.6 million PPV buys set by the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight? 

SE: After that [2015] event I think we all said it would never happen again. I can’t say that it will happen, but what I can say is that the demand for this event and the attention that it has already received are easily on par with Mayweather and Pacquiao if not bigger. This has the advantage of drawing not just from the boxing and the MMA fan bases, but also from the universe of people who have never paid attention to either a boxing match or MMA event before. Due to the nature of the personalities and the nature of the competition, there’s a whole awareness and curiosity that far surpasses any boxing or MMA event – even an event like Mayweather-Pacquiao. So you never say never – if there is something that could break the Mayweather-Pacquiao record, it seems this event could be it.

TU: What do you say to some of the detractors who say the fight makes a mockery of both boxing and MMA?

SE: Combat sports are something that you really can’t predict. The fight could end at any time and it doesn’t matter how far someone is behind – one punch can change everything in one instant. In that context, I don’t think anyone can reliably say what’s going to happen in this fight. Mayweather has been two years away from the sport and is 40 years old, and he is fighting a young, strong MMA champion in the prime of his career in McGregor. He’s 27 years old and he’s significantly bigger than Floyd. Is it unorthodox? Absolutely, and I think that’s part of its appeal. Conor McGregor has made his entire career of proving his doubters wrong.

TU: Do you have enough time to effectively put together a blockbuster PPV event given the Aug. 26 date?

SE: We have three more days than we had for Mayweather-Pacquiao and that turned out OK. The reality is the media market is very different that it has been traditionally, and with the advent of digital marketing providing the ability to reach people much more quickly, I think the days of 90 to 120 days of marketing as a necessity are long gone.  

Showtime Sports has been at the forefront of televised boxing for 30 years, taking a sport that for a generation was the purview of the broadcast networks and effectively promoting, marketing and distributing some of the most successful and lucrative fight cards in the history of the fight game.

Showtime and HBO’s co-distributed May 2015 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view fight remains the biggest pay TV event of all time, drawing more than 4.4 million buys and more than $400 million in revenue. Boxing has become a staple of Showtime’s programming offerings, and both on its premium channel and via PPV, the network has showcased arguably the biggest names in the sport, including Tommy Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Lennox Lewis, Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather.

Showtime Sports and Event Programming executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza talked about the impact boxing has had on Showtime and vice versa over the past 30 years — as well as what the network is doing to ensure its future success with the sweet science — with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead.

MCN:How infl uential has boxing been to overall development of the Showtime brand?

Stephen Espinoza: It’s fair to say that boxing has been critical to the development of Showtime. It has provided another genre of programming that is completely consistent with the network’s overall brand. Showtime has become known for provocative, high-quality entertainment, with compelling characters, and there is nothing more provocative and there’s nothing more provocative and compelling than characters like Mike Tyson, Holyfield and Mayweather. Although it’s a much different type of programming in that its live sports as opposed to scripted dramas and comedies, its value to the network is the same — delivering unique, compelling, provocative programming at the highest level of quality.

MCN:How has Showtime enhanced the viewer’s experience of watching boxing on television compared to the broadcast television networks?

SE: I think there was a certain consistency in presentation that premium television offered to boxing. The ability to stay with a fight between rounds without going to commercial break is something that greatly enhances the presentation of the sport as a whole. The ability to do things without really needing to take a break in the action and to present [uncensored] content to an adult audience, in some cases, were really things that premium television could offer, so I think the experience of professional boxing on premium television was qualitatively different than anything else.

I also think the technology has impacted how the sport is presented and how we market, distribute and deliver the bout. We were covering the events with 15 cameras to be able to deliver the bout that mimics as close as possible the in-arena look and feel of the event. The advent of HD, Dolby 5.1, were also critical pieces of delivering that feeling of a live event. More recently, going to a 4K camera, which we started using three or four years ago, added another layer of detail of the visual presentation. Equally important was marketing and advertising the event. The advent of social media and digital marketing in general have been critical in being able to reach fans.

MCN:The premium category over the years has also been criticized for hurting the sport by taking its biggest stars away from broadcast television and forcing fans to pay to watch big fights. Do you think that is a fair criticism?

SE: I don’t think premium television hurt the sport per se. The shift to premium television was a significant change, but that was really more a factor of premium networks stepping into the void created by a decrease in networks televising boxing. There was the death of a fighter in the ring during the [1982 CBS-televised] Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim fight, and that caused some broadcasters to reconsider their commitment to the sport. It was a result of several factors that allowed premium television to become more active.

We can certainly debate whether [boxing’s move to premium cable] was a positive or negative development for the visibility of the sport. In an ideal case, having regular exposure of boxing on a broad, over-the-air platform is something that would have helped the sport overall historically. But overall, I think we have been good stewards of the sport and the sport has done wonders for the network as well.

MCN:Looking ahead, is the sport currently flourishing on Showtime?

SE: It is. The entire media market is undergoing changes, and that’s true for premium television, as well as boxing. There’s uncertainty as we undergo those changes, but there’s huge opportunity as well. For Showtime, our investment has been in the heavyweight division with such stars as [champions] Dante Wilder and Anthony Joshua are two investments that will provide us with hours and hours of great fights. More generally we are developing the largest pool of young, talented fighters that are going to lead the post Mayweather era. That includes Leo Santa Cruz, Keith Thurman, Sean Porter and Danny Garcia.

MCN:Who is the most impactful fighter to fight on Showtime?

SE: I’d say in terms of impact I’d say it’s a three-way tie between Tyson, Holyfi eld and Mayweather, with a close second being the fighter that’s appeared more than any fighter on Showtime, Julio Cesar Chavez.

MCN:What was the most memorable fight on Showtime?

SE: The one that immediately jumps to mind is the 2005 Diego Corrales- Jose Louis Castillo fight which, during my lifetime, is the best fight that I’ve ever seen and was later named fight of the decade.

Time will tell whether or not boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will go down as the greatest pugilist in the history of the sport.

In terms of champion sports brands, though, the 38-year-old Mayweather — who won 12 world titles in five different weight classes before announcing his retirement in September — is currently the undisputed, pound-for-pound titleholder.

Read R. Thomas Umstead's Q&A with MCN's Male Athlete of the Year.

Earlier this year, Forbes named Mayweather as the world’s highest-paid celebrity in 2015. The boxer generated a record $300 million this year, obliterating the previous high of $115 million earned by professional golfer Tiger Woods in 2008.

Much of what Mayweather earned this year was generated by his much-hyped May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao, which set pay-per-view industry records for buys (4.4 million) and revenue ($400 million), destroying the previous record of 2.47 million buys generated by the 2007 Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight and the $150 million in revenue earned by the 2013 Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight.

Mayweather’s Sept. 12 fight against Andre Berto completed his unprecedented six-fight deal with Showtime, which generated about 10 million buys and $800 million in PPV revenue over its three-year span.

COTTAGE INDUSTRY

“There are entire sports leagues and corporations with hundreds of employees who would love to have the economic impact that Floyd has had over the past few years,” Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, said.

Mayweather, who earns the inaugural Multichannel News male Athlete of the Year Award, has been in the top echelon of boxing since he won the super featherweight title in 1998. Mayweather would go on to amass a record of 49-0 over his 19-year pro boxing career, winning championships in five different divisions against such formidable opponents as the now-retired De La Hoya, Pacquiao and current middleweight champion Alvarez.

“He’s faced everybody and he’s beaten the best in the game,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, the fighter’s boxing and entertainment promotion company. “He’s beaten these guys in their prime and makes very good fighters look ordinary. Name me one athlete in any sport who is the best at what they do at the age of 38.”

Mayweather’s 2007 fight with De La Hoya, his 2013 bout with Alvarez and this year’s fight with Pacquiao serve as the only PPV events ever to break the 2 million buy mark.

Read about MCN's Female Athlete of the Year, Ronda Rousey.

Mayweather’s brand extends beyond the ring. He took full advantage of the emergence of social media to further perpetuate his personality and persona. Mayweather has more than 12 million Facebook fans and 6.5 million Twitter followers. Observers say Mayweather has used social media effectively to talk directly to his fans and sell his fights as has no other professional athlete.

Over the years, he has also appeared in numerous high-profile media events, from WWE’s WrestleMania to ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, building more awareness for himself, the sport and the brand.

“No one has exploited social media like Floyd Mayweather,” HBO Sports senior vice president Mark Taffet said. HBO distributed several Mayweather PPV events in the 2000s and co-promoted the record-breaking Mayweather-Pacquiao fight with Showtime.

“Floyd has worked very, very hard to achieve the PPV figures that he achieved,” Taffet added. “It was no accident.”

Of course, Mayweather is not without his detractors. They criticize the fighter’s somewhat action-deficient defensive boxing style, as well as his often abrasive personality. But In Demand senior vice president of programming and business development Mark Boccardi said that criticism has worked to Mayweather’s advantage with regards to his PPV fight performances.

POLARIZING FIGURE

“Whether he was ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ Mayweather or ‘Money’ Mayweather, he created a legion of fans that wanted to both see him win and lose, and there’s a large segment of PPV buyers who bought his fights to see if someone could really beat this guy,” Boccardi said. “What he really did was create both those camps — the pro-Mayweather and pro-Mayweather-opponent camps — and that’s why he was able to generate the PPV buys that he did.”

Added Showtime’s Espinoza: “There are a lot of different opinions on his personality and the image that he portrays publicly. Regardless of those opinions, everyone in the sport has benefited. The sport would not have received the level of mainstream exposure, awareness and worldwide media attention without him.”

As for the future, Mayweather said he will remain retired, and Ellerbe added that the fighter is content to leave the sport behind after a phenomenal career. “He’s done everything he can in the sport of boxing, and he’s ready for the next stage of his life.”

Others however are not convinced, and hope to once again see Mayweather in the ring.

“There are a large number of people who secretly, and not so secretly hope he comes back including TV-distribution companies and Las Vegas touring companies,” Espinoza said. “We’re patiently waiting to see what develops.”

The Sept. 12 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Andre Berto fight could be bittersweet for pay-per-view distributors, as Mayweather, the category’s biggest draw, is expected to retire after the event.

While the bout for the WBC and WBA welterweight titles could draw as many as 1 million buys, according to fight distributor Showtime, the 38-yearold Mayweather last Wednesday (Sept. 2) reiterated to reporters his plans to retire after the fight during a conference call to promote the event. This week, promoters Showtime and CBS opened up a pay streaming option to add another option for potential buyers -- an unusual move for a big PPV fight.

If Mayweather does walk away from the ring after battling the 31-year-old Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he would do so as the most lucrative draw in the history of the PPV category.

Mayweather led all athletes and entertainers in generating more than $870 million in PPV revenues, according to Forbes. That was before his record-setting May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao, which generated more than $400 million in PPV revenue.

“While I will leave it up to others to debate Floyd’s position among the all-time greatest boxers, I can say he is undoubtedly the all-time PPV king,” Mark Boccardi, In Demand’s senior vice president of programming and business development, said.

PPV LEGACY ASSURED

Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza has said that Saturday’s Mayweather-Berto event — which will retail for a suggested $64.95 — could draw in excess of 1 million buys, despite the relatively unknown status of former welterweight champion Berto. Espinoza said he doesn’t expect the fight to come anywhere close to the more than record 4.4 million buys generated by Mayweather-Pacquiao, though.

What Espinoza said he doesn’t have to predict is Mayweather’s legacy in the sport and the PPV category. “I don’t think that there is any question that Floyd Mayweather is the greatest PPV draw ever,” Espinoza said.

“He’s surpassed 2 million PPV buys three times,” the Showtime executive added, referring to Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez in 2013 and Mayweather-Pacquiao this year. “No other fighter has done it more than once,” Espinoza said. “He’s really separated himself from any other attraction.”

Mayweather’s appeal as a PPV draw extended beyond his in-ring exploits, Boccardi said. The fighter’s social-media appeal — Mayweather has millions of Twitter followers — as well as his appearances in entertainment-based vehicles from Dancing With the Stars to the WWE’s Wrestlemania have helped Mayweather create a brand that has transcended boxing.

“Not only is he incredibly gifted in the ring, but he’s also the sport of boxing’s first superstar in the Internet/reality-TV generation — he’s created another aura outside the ring because of the generation that we live in,” Boccardi said. “He’s a boxer that to some people is more famous for being a character on TV than a fighter, but he backs it up by being so talented in the ring.”

While Mayweather has set the template for being a successful PPV event draw, Boccardi said it won’t be easy for other up-and-coming fighters to replicate Mayweather’s success both in and out of the ring.

“The way he did it worked well with his personality, but it’s not going to work for everyone,” Boccardi said. “The old saying [that] you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole holds true here — you can’t take a guy that might be gifted in the ring but is shy and not confrontational and try to create another Mayweather.”

COULD HE ‘UNRETIRE?’

Of course, there is the potential that the industry will see Mayweather in the ring again after the Berto fight. Mayweather has retired and unretired in the past, and with a chance to build a 2016 mega PPV event around breaking legendary heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark in his next fight — assuming he gets by Berto — industry observers say it’s a good bet we’ll see Mayweather back in the ring.

Even Espinoza said Showtime would likely look to coax the undefeated champion back for one more go-round. Saturday’s Mayweather-Berto fight is the last bout in a six-fight PPV deal between Mayweather and Showtime.

“There’s a good amount of disbelief about Mayweather’s plans to retire, largely because he’s still operating at such a high level,” Espinoza said. “But he’s 19 years in, and that’s a long time to be a fighter, so I understand the disbelief, but I also hear in Floyd’s voice that he’s ready to call it a career.

“Having said all of that, we’re going to try, but for the time being he has said to us, don’t call me, I’ll call you for the foreseeable future.”

Showtime Sports will distribute the Sept. 12 Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto fight on pay-per-view, in Showtime and “Money” Mayweather’s first PPV boxing event since the May 2 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, which generated a record-setting 4.4 million PPV buys.

The September bout is being billed as Mayweather’s last fight, and it is certainly the last fight in Showtime’s six-bout television agreement with the undefeated boxer.

Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about the upcoming fight — which will retail at a suggested PPV price of $64.95 — as well as managing the event’s performance expectations in the shadow of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Espinoza also reflected on the success of the network’s multifight deal with Mayweather and looked ahead at the coming PPV opportunities.

MCN:There were initial reports that this fight would air on broadcast television via CBS. How did you ultimately come to the decision to distribute it on PPV?

Stephen Espinoza: [Broadcast television] would have been a really interesting and fun way to televise his last fight, but practically speaking, it didn’t work out from a timing perspective. Ad time and sponsor dollars are spent six to eight months in advance, so to try to sell ad time for an event of this magnitude eight to 10 weeks ahead of the event is something that is difficult, particularly when you’re talking late in the third quarter, when so much of the advertiser budget is committed.

MCN:Having said that, you don’t have the typical two to three months of lead time to promote a PPV boxing match and you’re dealing with a relatively unknown opponent in Andre Berto. Can you do an effective job 0f marketing the fight?

SE: We’ve known for a few weeks of the date and the opponent, so we’ve been making those preparations for quite some time. Behind the scenes, from a marketing and promotion perspective, the wheels began turning a long time ago. It’s inevitable that after a mega-fight like Mayweather-Pacquiao, whatever comes next will seem a bit anticlimactic. So we definitely have to work to fight that. In this case, Floyd said this will be his last fight, and he’s been consistently saying that, so the event takes on greater significance.

MCN:Do you have concerns that there may be some viewer fatigue stemming from Mayweather-Pacquiao?

SE: We’re not going to capture that magic on this event, but what we do have in this event is an even greater mainstream awareness of Floyd Mayweather than we did on the last fight.

The choice of Berto as an opponent in part is a response by Floyd to some of the feeling among some fans that there wasn’t enough action and aggressiveness from Pacquiao during the last fight. If there’s one thing that Andre Berto is known for, it’s being an aggressive fighter — his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness in that he has one speed, which is all-out attack. We’ve seen that have some success against Floyd.

MCN:Do you think the fight can reach 1 million buys?

SE: I believe so. We have an incredibly strong undercard, great mainstream awareness among boxing fans generally, and historically September is a very good time for Mayweather pay-per-views because there are other opportunities for cross-promotion through CBS NFL football or CBS college football — there’s a lot more discussion around sports in general than even in May. There’s not a ton of sports competition, but there’s enough that there’s excitement about sports events in general.

MCN:The fight marks the end of your six-fight deal with Mayweather. Is it a bittersweet ending for you?

SE: Yes. The first five fights have really flown by, and looking back we’re all extremely proud of what we’ve done. Floyd has done his part, taking on tough fights, including two guys most people thought he’d never fight [Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez]. To be sitting here now with nearly 10 million PPV buys through the first five fights with some great moments and telecasts to show for it, we couldn’t be happier with the collaboration.

MCN:What does the future of Showtime PPV boxing look like after Mayweather?

SE: It will be a while for the vacuum to be filled. There’s not an obvious successor to Mayweather’s position as pay-per-view king, but if we look at the history of the sport, the vacuum is always filled. It might be a guy like Dante Wilder, or Keith Thurman or Danny Garcia or somebody that we don’t even see coming. But I have no doubt the vacuum will be filled pretty quickly.

Showtime Sports recently announced it will telecast a big June 13 Deontay Wilder-Eric Molina heavyweight championship fight, but boxing fans are still talking about the mega May 2 Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view event Showtime co-promoted with HBO.

Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza discusses the record breaking PPV results of the event with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead. Espinoza also talks about Mayweather’s future in the ring, including a potential rematch with Pacquiao.

An edited version of the interview appears below.

MCN: Did the fight meet your PPV performance expectations?

Stephen Espinoza: It far exceeded our expectations, even what we were expecting late in the week. We were monitoring pre-buys all week but there was nothing in the ballpark to compare it to … they were so high we couldn’t use it to extrapolate any numbers. We were largely flying blind.

MCN: Were you surprised with the significant amount of day of buys for the fight despite heavy promotion to drive pre-buys?

SE: We were. One of the elements that made it hard to predict was that we did message so heavily on early buying by the viewer to avoid technical difficulties, so we weren’t sure how much of the early activity was in response to that messaging and how much was genuine overall excitement and enthusiasm for the fight. I guess our first real indication that there was a huge expansion of the audience was during the telecast itself when we starting getting some reports that some operators were experiencing technical difficulties processing the huge volume of orders that were coming in on Saturday evening. Ultimately we were able to buy some time by stalling the main event and that hopefully that allowed everything to get cleared up in time for a successful main event telecast.

MCN: Did everything go as well as expected behind the scenes?

SE: It was a tremendous amount of work by a tremendous amount of people in a very short period of time. To have not just the two networks (co-fight promoters HBO and Showtime) but also two fighter promotional groups come together, learn how to work together and execute this huge event in a period of eight or nine weeks was a daunting task. But I think the telecast and the PPV results speak for themselves. I have nothing but praise for everyone who worked on this event.

MCN: So put the fight’s PPV performance in perspective: what does the event’s 4.4 million buys and more than $400 million mean for the future of the sport?

SE: What it means for the fight and the sport is sort of a new measuring stick for mainstream appeal of boxing. It’s been decades since the sport has received this level of attention and maybe not even then. To be able to capture the imagination and attention of the mainstream audience in such a short period of time on a very, very busy sports weekend speaks volumes about the continued appeal of this sport. Having said that, not every fight is going to be Mayweather/Pacquiao, but for the right matchups there’s still tremendous appeal and demand for boxing.

MCN: What do you say to the folks who say the fight itself was lackluster and failed to live up to the hype?

SE: When you’re dealing with two elite athletes like Mayweather and Pacquiao the distinction and separation in skill between them is going to be relatively minute. These are the two best fighters in the world, so you can look at that and realize that it was very unlikely that there was going to be a knockout. Having said that, there was plenty of action throughout the fight and there was risk on both sides. The fight had thrilling moments – there was plenty for the casual fan and for the hard core fan. Those who were looking for a brutal slugfest were obviously disappointed, but anyone who appreciates the skill and technical prowess that’s required at the highest levels of boxing was treated to a unique and perhaps once in a lifetime exhibition of that.

MCN: Mayweather has one more fight on his six-fight deal with Showtime. Have you begun to think about the next fight?

SE: Yes. Floyd has continued to tell us that he intends to fight Sept. 12 and that it will be the last fight of his career. So we are beginning the very preliminary preparations for exactly that. We will be getting into discussions about an opponent for him very quickly. We will look to ride the momentum of this event and capitalize on the fact that Floyd has now distinguished himself as the fighter of his era.

MCN: Any thought whatsoever about a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch?

SE: I think we have to remain open to it. There’s a lot of chatter on both sides about the possibility – once Manny successfully recovers from [shoulder] surgery, if there a demand and if Floyd is still active or would consider coming back to being active then it would be a topic of conversation. But it will be driven by demand.

Legendary North Carolina college basketball coach Dean Smith will be the subject of a new documentary set to premiere March 25.

The documentary, Dean Smith, will chronicle the life of the Tar Heels coach, who retired in 1997 with  the most wins in college basketball history. Smith’s former players, assistants and rival coaches comment on Smith’s legacy during the documentary, which was produced by Showtime Sports and Ross Greenburg Productions.

“Dean Smith paints the picture of a man who was not just an accomplished basketball coach, but also a passionate activist with a life-long commitment to social justice," said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President & General Manager, for Showtime Sports in statement. "He taught and led both his student-athletes and the community at large with a consistent example of excellence and integrity."

Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is “laser-focused” on putting together a May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao as negotiations proceed, Showtime Sports executive vice president and general manager Stephen Espinoza said Saturday. 

Espinoza confirmed to Multichannel News that there are parts that have been completed for a May 2  Mayweather-Pacquiao mega pay-per-view fight, but a final agreement has yet to be reached.

“Talks are continuing and we’ve made meaningful progress, but we still have a significant distance to cover on a number of open points,” he said. “Until the whole thing is done, nothing’s done.”

Espinoza would not provide specifics on the talks. Showtime, which has two more fights on its six-fight TV deal with Mayweather, and HBO -- which has Pacquiao under contract -- are in negotiations to co-distribute the event via PPV.

 The last time the two rival pay TV services teamed to distribute a PPV fight was the 2002 Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight.

Earlier this week Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said the Filipino fighter has agreed to terms to the fight, but added the undefeated Mayweather had not signed off on the deal. 

But Espinoza said that Mayweather is not hesitant to fight Pacquiao, but his strategy has been to keep as much of the negotiations out of the press as possible.

“Some has perceived that as lack of interest, but it’s the opposite – he’s so focused on getting it done that he doesn’t want to say anything publically that would complicate the negotiations,” Espinoza said. “He wants it as much as he’s ever had for any fight, and our marching orders are to do our best to get it done as fast as possible.”

Espinoza, speaking from Las Vegas in support of tonight’s Showtime telecast of the Bermane Stiverne-Deontay Wilder heavyweight championship fight, added that Mayweather will fight on May 2 against Pacquiao or another opponent.

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.”