By Keith Idec

Whenever Kell Brook and Errol Spence Jr. fight, Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza wants his network to televise it.

Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager for Showtime Sports, said Thursday he has had discussions with British promoter Eddie Hearn about securing the American TV rights to air Brook-Spence.

“We’re in discussions to pick that up, yes,” Espinoza said before a press conference Thursday in Manhattan to promote the Danny Garcia-Keith Thurman welterweight title unification fight. “Not done yet, but we’re in discussions.”

Espinoza added that the date for the Brook-Spence fight, initially announced as May 20, remains unsettled. He said it also could take place May 27 or June 3 because the site for the fight might not be available May 20 due to a conflict with a soccer match.

The 12-round fight, a mandatory defense of Brook’s IBF welterweight title, is supposed to take place at Bramall Lane, a soccer stadium in Brook’s hometown of Sheffield, England. That venue could accommodate more than 30,000 fans for boxing.

Before Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) agreed to box Spence (21-0, 18 KOs), many boxing fans and media members expected Brook to give up his 147-pound championship so that he didn’t have to fight the powerful southpaw from DeSoto, Texas.

From Showtime’s perspective, Brook-Spence not only is one of the most intriguing fights on the 2017 boxing calendar. It also perfectly fits the blueprint for the type of fights Showtime wants televise later this year and in 2018.

“Given everything that we’re doing in the welterweight division, it would be great to get Brook-Spence,” Espinoza said. “And then the winner of Brook-Spence is a natural fight for the winner of Thurman-Garcia.”

Philadelphia’s Garcia (33-0, 19 KOs), the WBC world welterweight champion, and Clearwater, Florida’s Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC), the WBA world welterweight champion, will fight Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. CBS, Showtime’s parent company, will televise the Garcia-Thurman fight as the main event of a doubleheader set to begin at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.