With Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting at Rizin at the end of 2018 and Manny Pacquiao returning to the ring against Adrien Broner, Stephen Espinoza said the path to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is a murky one.
Espinoza, the head of Showtime Sports, spoke with Fight Hub TV and talked about the possibility of Mayweather and Pacquiao having a rematch from their 2015 pay-per-view event, which did more than four million buys. Mayweather emerged victorious with a win in 2015, but Pacquiao had been adamant about getting a rematch. Back in September, Mayweather and Pacquiao had a face-off in Tokyo, sparking rumors and interest over the two fighting each other once more.
But since then, Pacquiao signed with PBC and Mayweather announced he would be fighting Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 14 on December 31. Whether or not the rematch is still a possibility, Espinoza added that Pacquiao is taking a big risk in facing Adrien Broner in January 2019 and that it would not be the safest route to a rematch as Broner stands a strong chance at beating Pacquiao.
"There's gameplans, but one thing we all know in this sport is you can't assume really anything. I think if people wanted to do a safe gameplan leading in to Mayweather-Pacquiao 2, I don't think Broner would be the best opponent. There are guys that are less risky [for Pacquiao to fight] than Adrien Broner. There's certainly interest in that, but I don't think this is A-B-C how we get [to Mayweather-Pacquiao 2]. Broner's still a formidable challenge for Pacquiao," Espinoza said.
The interview between Fight Hub TV and Espinoza can be seen in the video above.
