Espinoza: Pacquiao Plan A For Mayweather But Cotto and Khan Plan B

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It seems like tFloyd Mayweather Jr Leonard Ellerbehere is already a plan B in place in case the super fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is not made on the side of Floyd Mayweather. In an interview with The New York Daily News, Showtime Executive Stephen Espinoza says that Mayweather will fight May 2nd regardless of the outcome of Mayweather-Pacquiao.

“He’s definitely fighting on May 2,” Espinoza told the New York Daily News. “His first choice by far is Manny Pacquiao. If it becomes clear that that fight is not achievable, then he would move on to either Amir Khan or Miguel Cotto. He’s made it clear to us that Pacquiao is still his No. 1 priority, and that’s where all our energy is focused.”

While many people feel that time is running out to announce the big fight, Espinoza feels that while still urgent to get the deal done, there still is time to make the fight happen.

“I would say I’m optimistic that it can get done,” Espinoza said. “We have work to do to bridge the gap on important issues, but the most important thing is that Floyd genuinely wants it and wants it badly, and from everything I’ve heard and seen, Manny wants the fight as well.”

So what’s the holdup? Espinoza says there still some issues to be resolved thought he could not comment on the specifics.

“We’re down to the last handful of issues. So the handful of issues is small, but the importance of those issues is pretty big,” he said. “There are a few open issues on each element of the deal, on both the fighter/promoter part of the deal and the network to network part of the deal. Neither one is done yet.”