Espinoza: Mayweather-Maidana Profitable, Part 2 Worthy

By Rick Reeno

Contrary to widespread industry rumors, Showtime Sports head Stephen Espinoza said the May 3rd bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana was not a financial failure for his network.

Espinoza, while not disclosing the exact details regarding the pay-per-view numbers and the profits, rejects any claims that a bundle of money was lost on the show. According to industry sources, the PPV generated between 830-900,000 pay-per-view purchases. The show sold 15,718 tickets for a live gate of $15,024,400.

The two fighters will do it a second time on September 13th, once again at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26KOs) unified the WBC/WBA welterweight titles with a twelve round majority decision over Maidana (35-4, 31KOs) the first time around.

"One of the things that was disappointing about the reaction to the May 3rd event, we had a such an entertaining, exciting, competitive fight, top quality from top to bottom and immediately following the event all that people wanted to talk about were the numbers. No one was talking about how good a fight it was, what a satisfying pay-per-view it was. When the discussion focuses on pay-per-view numbers, it hurts the event," Espinoza said. "There is so much misinformation regarding the structure of our deal with Floyd."

"If it wasn't a financial success, then there is no way that we would be going into a direct rematch four months later."

Espinoza told BoxingScene.com that Mayweather, through his own promotional company, covers the cost of the pay-per-view undercard and the press tour.