Showtime Sports Exec VP & GM Stephen Espinoza said the net is looking at an earlier start time to get "more East Coast and Midwest buys" on PPV for the Sept. 13 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Marcos Maidana welterweight title rematch, according to Steve Carp of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Instead of the usual 9:00pm ET start, the telecast would start at 8:00pm, with Mayweather and Maidana "expected in the ring" shortly after 11:00pm. Espinoza said, "We’ve had some telecasts end at 1, 1:30 in the morning on the East Coast. What other sport intentionally does that? By moving things up an hour, we’re hoping people will buy the pay-per-view knowing they can still get to bed at a reasonable hour after watching the fight.” Espinoza added that the earlier start time "shouldn’t negatively impact PPV sales in the Pacific time zone." Carp noted the first Mayweather-Maidana fight "didn’t break 1 million in buys." But perhaps the hour difference and the fact the rematch is being "promoted far more heavily than the first meeting ... will boost sales" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/3).
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: SI.com's Chris Mannix reported boxers Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev have "agreed to terms on a deal" for a fight. It is "tentatively scheduled for early November in either Brooklyn or Atlantic City and will be broadcast on HBO." The fact that the bout will be televised on HBO is "noteworthy" because the net has "banned Golden Boy-promoted boxers" from fighting on HBO for the last 18 months. The last Golden Boy fight televised by HBO was Hopkins' win over Tavoris Cloud in March '13. Espinoza said that Showtime, which has televised Hopkins' last two fights, made a "competitive offer" for a Hopkins-Adonis Stevenson bout, but to no avail. Asked if the deal could potentially damage Golden Boy's relationship with Showtime, Espinoza was "noncommittal" (SI.com, 8/1).
