By Edward Chaykovsky
Stephen Espinoza, head of Showtime Sports, explained why Andre Berto was selected as the opponent for Floyd Mayweather's upcoming return to the ring on September 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Criticism was sky high after Berto was announced as Mayweather's opponent for the Showtime Pay-Per-View card.
There were two other fighters who were calling for Mayweather at every corner - WBA 'regular' welterweight champion Keith Thurman and British star Amir Khan.
Espinoza said there were complications in securing both Khan and Thurman on the short timetable to finalize the September card. According to Eszpinoza, Berto was partially selected to create some action in the fight, after so many fans were angered by the lackluster mega-fight Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in May.
"There was [consideration of Khan and Thurman]. There were conversations. There was added complication of Ramadan.....whether Khan would be at his best after eight weeks of fasting. Ultimately it came down to the camps and they just couldn't reach an agreement," Espinoza said.
"At the end of the day, in terms of the fighters that were available on the timetable that was needed and available to make a deal - there was a very small pool. And I think the choice of Berto was a little bit of a reaction to some of the fans responses to the Pacquiao fight - wanting to see more action out of an opponent for Floyd. There is one thing we know about Andre Berto, he's never lacked for action. There is only one way he knows how to fight, and that's all-out aggressive."