By Steve Kim
Looking ahead there is the issue of May 2nd. Cinco De Mayo weekend has become one of the traditional spots for Floyd Mayweather and his pay-per-view events. Will he be fighting on this date in 2015?
"Absolutely," said Showtime Sports VP and GM of Sports Programming Stephen Espinoza. "I haven't heard anything from him other than May 2nd as the date that he wants to fight."
Clouding the issue this time around is that a fight between Saul Alvarez and Miguel Cotto could be placed on that same weekend. Alvarez has made it very clear his intention to take back the Mexican holidays for himself and Golden Boy Promotions. Alvarez-Cotto is one of the few match-ups that could probably out-perform a Mayweather event (that wouldn't involve the likes of a Manny Pacquiao).
With that said, Mayweather has clearly established himself as the pay-per-view king the past few years. Does he stay on this date?
"It's hard to argue with his historical performance, particularly over the last year where he held up in a very busy pay-per-view landscape better than anyone else in the industry," said Espinoza, who's company still has two more bouts with Mayweather in their landmark six-fight deal with him that was signed in 2013.
"So I think he's got a very, very strong claim on that [that date]. Ultimately, the pay-per-view distributors are the ones who've got to decide and I hope it doesn't come down to some sort of head-to-head battle."
"But I know what Floyd wants [May 2] and he's pretty set on it."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com
