Comments Thread For: Espinoza: Showtime/175 Union is Long Term Commitment

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports, has long term plans for the light heavyweight division. His network has focused heavily on the main players who occupy 140, 147 and 154 - but now the 175-pound limit is going to be prioritized as well.

Showtime's run of fights at 175 will begin on April 19th, when Bernard Hopkins, holder of the IBF title, faces WBA champion Beibut Shumenov in a high-stakes unification.
[Click Here To Read More]

[Rudiamonds]

Danmmm 40% more who would say no to that?

[Hougigo]

The champs are good (excluding both WBA champs), but aside from that..... the division is pretty void right now.

And lol at them not recognizing the WBO

[DoktorSleepless]

When Kovalev was Bhop's mandatory, Espinoza said there was no depth in the division and didn't want to buy it. And now it's somehow one of the hottest divisions when pretty much nothing has changed since 9 months ago.

Many factors - schedule, budget, lack of depth in the division, etc. "@MarkEOrtega: WHY @shosports isn***39;t interested in Kovalev for B-Hop"

— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) June 20, 2013

[Hougigo]

When Kovalev was Bhop's mandatory, Espinoza said there was no depth in the division and didn't want to buy it. And now it's somehow one of the hottest divisions when pretty much nothing has changed since 9 months ago.

Many factors - schedule, budget, lack of depth in the division, etc. "@MarkEOrtega: WHY @shosports isn***39;t interested in Kovalev for B-Hop"

— Stephen Espinoza (@StephenEspinoza) June 20, 2013

Shumenov is the golden boy.... notice how everything changed once they signed him?

[ShoulderRoll]

"While Espinoza was tight-lipped on the legal controversy, a third-party attorney with no affiliation to any of the involved fighters or promoters, gave his take on the situation to BoxingScene. The attorney, who requested to remain anonymous, cited Duva's interview with BoxingScene from March 3 as being contradictory to what's being claimed.

"In that March 3rd article, she said 'we're going to move on if he doesn't sign a deal.' You can't say I'm obligated or we might move on.' Either you are both obligated or you are not obligated. You don't have obligations on one side and not the other. She is going to be buried by her own statement. What she said on March 3rd, that if he doesn't sign then we're going to move on....I don't care what else she said, that means you don't have a deal. That's like trying to argue out of both sides of your mouth."

That's exactly what I speculated about on another thread. Now a lawyer is confirming the same thing so I was on the right track.

[wiz1030]

The champs are good (excluding both WBA champs), but aside from that..... the division is pretty void right now.

And lol at them not recognizing the WBO

I know some boxing heads that don't recognize the WBO like the other bodies. It's also why they will claim whoever unifies the titles between Shumenov, Hopkins, and Stevenson the undisputed champ.

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Shumenov is the golden boy.... notice how everything changed once they signed him?

At that time, Shumenov was on a long layoff, Stevenson was not as hot as he is now, Pascal was injured and on the mend, Kovalev just had his biggest win but also not as big as he is now and it wasn't clear if Hopkins would continue beyond 2013.

And, Golden Boy pitched Hopkins-Kovalev to HBO and they rejected it, because they didn't want to take a chance Hopkins would win and then jump right back to Showtime since by that point HBO cut GBP off.

[nycsmooth]

not a strong division after the belt holders & I doubt Hopkins wants either of the other 2 "champs"...

[jas]

Yea long term - bhop is 49 Stevenson 37 yet it is long term even though there's no very good fighters past the top 3 guys. This guy Espinoza has no idea what he is talking about