Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza reports that the Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford is currently at a sticking point in the negotiations for their mega-fight this year.
Espinoza says he’s not giving up and will continue to pursue the negotiations to get it done. He feels confident that he can make the fight, as Crawford and Spence are both 100% on board with making this fight.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was pessimistic about the Spence-Crawford fight getting made, as he feels with piracy taking a bite out of the pay-per-view, it would be difficult to make the match given the large guaranteed purses for each fighter.
Without an outside investor with money to burn, it’ll be a risk for the promoters to put the Spence vs. Crawford fight together because they could wind up losing money.
“When you have a negotiation, which hasn’t been public, and I think that’s a good thing, it’s still highly scrutinized and a lot of interest.
“I think in most negotiations that go on for a while, they have a lifespan of ups and downs,” said Stephen Espinoza of Showtime to Fighthype about the Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford negotiations.
“So, I don’t think it’s dead or close to dead. I think there are points where things are moving more quickly and points where things are sort of stuck at an impasse.
“We’re a little bit stuck, but I don’t think anybody is ready to throw in the towel,” said Espinoza about the Spence – Crawford negotiations, least of all the two fighters.
“Yeah, there’s some slow going. The discussions are still ongoing. People are still trying to make this work. I think one of the most positive things is no one is talking about it publicly.
“I know you know that’s bad news for you and guys like you. I wish I could share more because I know there’s a lot of interest, but at the same time, I don’t want to be the guy that blows it up because I say something that irritates one side or the other, and they walk away.
“So I am still optimistic that it gets done. There are still a variety of conversations going on, and I still think it is very, very possible to get that done this year.
“To be honest, we haven’t had discussions with him or his team on that. Everything has been focused on Spence, so that’s the focus. I think we’re going to continue to try and make that, and even if it dies, we’re going to try and revive it again.
“It’s an important fight, and it’s a fight that both fighters want very badly. So I think that’s where my optimism comes from that both fighters are 100% convinced,” said Espinoza.
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