This weekend, Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza has his hands full with what is deemed to be the most important fight in the welterweight division since Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Manny Pacquiao. In one corner, Errol Spence Jr. attempts to put a stamp on his welterweight campaign with a decisive victory against Terence “Bud” Crawford. In the other corner, Terence “Bud” Crawford aims to end Spence Jr.’s unbeaten streak and become the first man to have held undisputed titles in two different weight classes during the four-belt era. On Saturday, July 29, only one man will have their hand raised.
With all that’s going on, Stephen Espinoza still has his sights set on making more big fights happen in the future. Recently, he entertained the idea of super fight between Naoya Inoue and Gervonta “Tank” Davis. Naoya Inoue is now one fight away from winning undisputed titles in two different weight classes in under a year. Meanwhile, Gervonta “Tank” Davis is riding high after beating Ryan Garcia in April.
“It’s intriguing. I would love to see Inoue and Tank. If he could move up … and after that performance yesterday, I wouldn’t put anything out of his reach,” Espinoza said.
There’s just one minor detail preventing this fight from taking place. Inoue started his pro career in the 108-pound division and just arrived in the super bantamweight division. In contrast, Gervonta “Tank” Davis primarily fights in the 135-pound division and has won a super lightweight bout as well.
“Look — I think you never know,” Espinoza continued.
“[Inoue’s] come up a lot of weight already, but he’s been carrying the power the whole time. Yeah, it sounds a little bit crazy now thinking about where they are, [Inoue’s] at 122, but it’s only 13 more pounds.”
