Stephen Espinoza, President, Sports and Event Programming at Showtime, has reason to celebrate.
Endless behind-the-scenes negotiations between top boxers’ handlers — sometimes slick, often tedious, and occasionally heartbreaking — have resulted in a robust show schedule on the premium network.
For example, this year Showtime will have aired nine major boxing cards in an 11-week period through the end of April.
Boxing Junkie asked Espinoza what the packed board says, amid speculation boxing may not be in parent company Paramount’s long-term plans.
“You can see from the quality and quantity that we are very committed to the sport,” he said. “And that will remain the case for the foreseeable future. From our point of view nothing has changed. In fact, we have a number of events that we already have and we have nine boxing events coming up in the next 10 weeks.
“This is as busy as any track we’ve had since I’ve been with Showtime, which has been over 10 years.”
The schedule (see list below) includes a number of big fights – David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant and Tim Tszyu vs. Tony Harrison, for example – but the jewel is a £136 pay-per-view matchup between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia on 22.
Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia is a gem in Showtime’s boxing schedule.
Davis, #10 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, and Garcia are gifted all-round fighters and real knockout artists. Plus, their massive social media followers make them crossover stars.
Both young men are still building their CVs, but they are already moving the masses. Espinoza credits her with marketing savvy, just like he does with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
“What Tank and Ryan did is fundamental,” he said. “In today’s media market, connecting directly with the fan base is crucial. You see this happening across the industry, whether it’s a product brand endorser or a Hollywood star.
“Hollywood stars used to keep their distance from the audience. They weren’t in commercials, not outside of movies. This is reversed. Now people want access to you all the time. Social media is the solution to that.”
The story goes on
How tall could Davis and Garcia get?
The era of 1 million pay-per-view buys in the United States seems to have retired with the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. For example, the third fight between the sport’s biggest star Canelo Alvarez and the popular Plant in November 2021 won an estimated 800,000.
Davis and Garcia individually can’t match Alvarez, but together, Espinoza said, a large number shouldn’t be ruled out.
“We’ve seen lately what used to be a million [pay-per-view buys] is now 800,000,” he said. “That seems to be some kind of upper limit. Check out what Canelo-Plant has done. [Deontay] Wilder[Tyson] Fury was a little lower but in the same neighborhood.
“It’s the biggest thing in the last few years. But if anyone can break out it could be a combination of Tank and Ryan as they are attractive outside of boxing fans.
“The magic of Mayweather and Pacquiao is that they brought in people who didn’t pay attention to boxing any day of the year except when they were fighting. I’ll bet my money on any outburst from Davis and Garcia.”
Of course, an off-schedule fight underscores the reality that there will be disappointments.
A showdown between pound-for-pound welterweight stars Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. would become the crown jewel of 2022, a fight of undefeated champions reminiscent of Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns and Felix Trinidad-Oscar De La Hoya.
However, talks ultimately collapsed and there’s no telling when — or if — the fight will happen.
Espinoza is among those who were disappointed.
“All the boxing fans were disappointed by that,” he said. “We are boxing fans ourselves. We were disappointed. I think boxing gets it right most of the time. We’ll get Tank and Ryan [which] is a good thing. We could also get a big Wilder fight in the near future. We keep getting big fights.
“So there will be occasional failures. Sometimes, as boxing fans, we are harder on our sport than any other fan. And often disputes that don’t happen get more attention than those that do. It’s hard not to be cynical, but at best it’s a beautiful sport.
“It’s more exciting and different than any other sport out there, but yes, it disappoints us at times. We need to keep working as people… within the sport to make sure there are few.
“Spence-Crawford in particular, I know nobody gives that up. That didn’t happen last fall [but] Efforts are being made to continue trying to achieve this. I’m not saying it will be, but nobody is giving up hope or giving up trying.”
Of course, Espinoza has a good feeling about the schedule as it is.
It’s not perfect – when has it ever been? – but his network will feature many of the best fighters in the world in competitive matchups over the coming weeks and months.
“For those who really are the true fans, who are looking for real quality boxing, who are looking for the fun and excitement of discovering a new fighter, the fun of a hard fought, technical fight, it’s here,” said Espinoza. “There are enough people who are committed to having quality fights within the sport. Many of them are here under our umbrella at Showtime.
“There is enough. If we look at it globally, there is as much boxed content as there has been at any point in recent memory. I think that’s a positive thing. We need to emphasize the positive while acknowledging our mistakes and some of our shortcomings. …
“One of the things we’ve seen is that more undisputed champions have been crowned in the last two or three years than probably at any point in the history of the sport. The reality is that great struggles are taking place. You can’t have undisputed champions without champions fighting other champions.
“So there are signs that things are improving and moving in the right direction.”
***
Here are the upcoming Showtime cards that have been announced:
4TH OF MARCH
Showtime Championship Boxing
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California
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Brandon Figueroa vs. Mark Magsayo, Featherweights
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Jarrett Hurd vs. Armando Reséndiz, Middleweight bout
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Amilcar Vidal vs. Elijah Garcia, Middleweight bout
MARCH 11
Showtime Boxing International
Australia
25TH MARCH
Showtime pay per view
MGM Grand, Las Vegas
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David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant, Super Middleweight
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Jesus Ramos vs. Joey Spencer, junior middleweight
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Chris Colbert vs. Jose Valenzuela, Lightweights
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Cody Crowley vs. Abel Ramos, welterweights
7TH OF APRIL
ShoBox: The new generation
Cache Creek Casino, Brooks, California.
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Shinard Bunch vs. Bryan Flores, junior welterweights
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Neri Ariel Cruz Romero vs. Jose Nunez, junior lightweights
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Raul Garcia vs. Robert Terry, junior middleweight
APRIL 8TH
Showtime Championship Boxing
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California.
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Sebastian Fundora vs. Brian Mendoza, junior middleweight
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Brandun Lee vs. Pedro Campa, junior welterweights
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Luis Nunez vs. Christian Olivo, Featherweights
22 APRIL
Showtime pay per view
13 MAY
Showtime Championship Boxing
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Alberto Puello vs Rolando Romero, junior welterweights (for Puello’s WBA title)
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Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Kent Cruz, junior welterweights
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Rances Barthelemy vs. Omar Juarez, junior welterweights
9 JUNE
ShoBox: The new generation
Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY
24 JUNE
Showtime Championship Boxing
The Armory, Minneapolis
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Carlos Adames vs. Julian Williams, Middleweight
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Erickson Lubin vs. Luis Arias, junior middleweight
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Fernando Martinez vs. Fernando Martinez Jade Bornea, junior bantamweight (for Martinez’s IBF title)
Story originally appeared on Boxing Junkie
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