Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza believes the Gervonta Davis – Ryan Garcia rematch clause dispute won’t keep the fight from getting made for April 29th.
Espinoza says it’s great news to him that there’s only one issue that is standing in the way of the Tank-Ryan fight from taking place in terms of the rematch clause, and he feels that’s not an “insurmountable” obstacle.
The Showtime president Espinoza believes that they have various ways to get around the rematch clause disputed, and he doesn’t see this as a deal-breaker in making the mega-fight between Golden Boy’s Ryan Garcia and PBC/Showtime fighter Gervonta Davis for April 15th on pay-per-view.
Golden Boy wants to be the one that puts on the rematch for DAZN if their fighter Ryan (23-0, 19 KOs) is victorious over Tank.
It’s unknown if Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya would be willing to walk away from the deal if they don’t get their way in the rematch clause.
Ultimately, Ryan would be the one that could force them to give in if they don’t find a way to work around this obstacle.
“We sent a revised [contract] last week and haven’t heard anything. If it’s down to one issue, that’s phenomenal news,” Espinoza said to Chicken Tawk.
“We’re at the one yard line, and there’s one open issue; that’s it. So I’m not going to have to talk about anything else in the universe about this fight, except that one issue. That’s great news.
“There’s airline flights, hotel rooms, and all that. I actually think, at this point, we really want everything to be included in that. So I think it’ll be right after the Super Bowl. It doesn’t make any sense to announce it Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of this week. It’s not going to make any noise.
“It’ll go over like the DAZN schedule, like a lead balloon. So why do that,” said Espionoza about Showtime’s fight schedule announcement. “Let’s do that when there’s a little bit of airspace, not when we’re on the eve of the Super Bowl.”
“I think there’s been a lot of misinformation, and we can do a whole episode on the dynamics of this whole thing,” said Espinoza to K.O. Artist Sports about the Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia negotiations.
“I never thought it was in doubt. We had a very detailed negotiation and an exchange of emails. We went really in-depth on a lot of things. Is that a formal contract? No, but is it an enforceable agreement? Absolutely.
“Having said that, we’ve now moved to the formal contract stage. We’ve gone back & forth a couple of times. I think all the issues are on the table, at least for the promoter’s side, and I don’t see anything that is going to be a major issue.
“I’ve seen Golden Boy’s comments, and they seem to be optimistic. From our perspective, we’re optimistic. What gives me confidence is the fact that these two fighters, in particular, weren’t going to take no for an answer.
“Without pointing fingers at anybody, there are points where various people might have said to the two fighters, ‘Let’s go in a different direction. I’m not sure this deal is going to get done,’ and neither fighter wanted to hear any of that and wouldn’t hear any of that.
“It’s really a testament to both of those guys. If you’re a fighter and are insistent on getting a particular fight, look, everybody else has to go along even though it was painful and ugly at times, and not everybody is thrilled with the deal. That’s kind of the sign of a good deal.
“When everyone is a little unhappy, that probably means because everyone has made concessions to get the deal done,” said Espinoza.