Espinoza: Mayweather-Pacquiao Not About the Networks

Apr 29, 2015 • 6:39 AM ET

By Jake Donovan

There was an aura of civility—forced or otherwise—among all parties present at the final press conference for the epic May 2 showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Little to no trash talk took place at the press event, which was staged at the KA Theater, which resides on MGM Grand property in Las Vegas, where Saturday’s superfight takes place.

With that civility came restraint and a swallowing of pride, even as Bob Arum—Pacquiao’s longtime promoter and Leonard Ellerbe—CEO of Mayweather Promotions—traded barbs when the discussion turned to the networks involved.

American cable giants Showtime and HBO are working in a joint effort to present this weekend’s Pay-Per-View show, just the second time in history the two networks have collaborated for a boxing event, the other coming in June ’02 when Lennox Lewis (HBO) knocked out Mike Tyson (Showtime) in what at the time served as the most lucrative PPV telecast in boxing history.

Mayweather has headlined the only two shows to have surpassed that mark, with his wins over Oscar de la Hoya (May ’07) and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (Sept. ’13) representing the most PPVs sold and highest grossing events, respectively. This weekend figures to top each of those shows and go down as the richest ever, though the two sides seemed to disagree on who is more responsible.

“One thing is beyond controversy. HBO is the #1 premium pay channel in the world,” stated Arum, in a proverbial flip of the finger to Mayweather’s side of the dais that also included Showtime head Stephen Espinoza. “It’s soon to become the #1 pay-streaming channel with the launch of HBO now. In sports, HBO puts on the best and most important matches.

“Look at what they’ve been doing the past couple of weeks. Look at April 18, Lucas Matthysse-Ruslan Provodnikov - probably the fight of the year if this one doesn’t surpass it. The highest rating for any cable boxing show in the last three years. May 9, another barnburner HBO will put on. Canelo Alvarez versus James Kirkland. And it goes on and on.”

While HBO certainly has a loaded schedule from now through June, one thing has been missing from its lineup over the course of the past two years.

“Let me remind you, Bob,” replied Ellerbe . “Showtime has the biggest star in the sport and the best fighter in the world - Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.”

The jab was a harsh reminder of this particular rivalry reaching a boiling point in recent years. Mayweather and Pacquiao aren’t just the two best fighters and biggest boxing stars in the world, but were also the staple of HBO’s lineup for years. That changed in an instant when Mayweather announced in early 2013 that he would be fighting for Showtime likely for the remainder of his Hall-of-Fame bound career.

Mayweather has since fought four times on Showtime PPV. Three of the four underwhelmed at the box office— at least by Mayweather’s lofty standards and the $30+ million per fight paydays he was guaranteed—but with that also came his record-breaking event in his aforementioned win over Alvarez in Sept. ’13.

However you measure his recent PPV results, all rank ahead of the three PPV events Pacquiao has headlined since Mayweather’s departure to Showtime. In fact, Mayweather-Alvarez performed better than the combined total of Pacquiao’s wins over Brandon Rios (Nov. ’13), Tim Bradley (Apr. ’14 rematch) and Chris Algieri (Nov. ’14).

Still, both fighters reached a point in their career where fans were no longer interested in seeing them against anyone other than each other. A collection of massive egos stood in the way for years, but the genius of CBS Coporation President and CEO Les Moonves finally brought the two sides together for the long-overdue event, a reminder that it’s not about competing networks, but putting together the most competitive superfight that could—and needed to—be made.

“Sometimes we forget about what this event is about,” Espinoza reminded everyone in the building. “This isn’t about networks and documentaries. This isn;t about a bunch of suits in New York City. This isn’t about the promoters. This event is about two world class athletes. They’ve worked thousands of hours to get to this very moment.

“What makes this event so special, so historic is these are the two best athletes in the world. The two best in the sport who will be meeting in the ring about 72 hours.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

Jake Donovan Profile

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.

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