Floyd Mayweather Jr.
WBC/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (L) of the U.S. takes a forearm to the throat from Marcos Maidana of Argentina during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada September 13, 2014. Maidana was deducted a point for the infraction. Reuters

Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza took to social media recently mainly to deny allegations that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is holding up the negotiations with Manny Pacquiao. The outspoken cable channel chief also took time to answer some fans’ queries to clear up that the negotiations are still on-going admitting that the process will take patience but that he’s optimistic that the mega-fight will happen in 2015.


With May 2, 2015— the tentative date for the Mayweather-Pacquiao super fight— roughly three months away, fight fans and boxing observers are worried that both fighters might not have enough time to promote and prepare for the bout.

However, Espinoza in his most recent tweets and replies to tweets, said in one post that if Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Showtime have their way, the boxing world will “have the biggest fight ever on 5/2”— referring to the Cinco de Mayo weekend date.

There were also fans who accused Mayweather Jr. of “running away” from the fight and Espinoza had a few choice words for them.

“I assume nothing. I KNOW,” Espinoza replied to one tweet who asked if Mayweather Jr. is willing to walk away from a career payday. “You're assuming he's [Mayweather] trying to .Think again.”

According to previous reports, the share will be 60 per cent for Mayweather and 40 per cent for Pacquiao which means that Mayweather will at least earn $120 million from a fight with Pacquiao not counting the potentially huge pay-per-view numbers from the fight.

With Espinoza’s recent back-and-forth with interested but impatient fans, it’s clear that the Showtime chief is still active in the negotiations and trying to make the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happen. There are also reports that Pacquiao, in interviews with local scribes in the Philippines, have started his training for an upcoming fight.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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