Espinoza gets elevated

SHOWTIME Sports named Stephen Espinoza as President, Sports and Event Programming, where he will continue to develop and execute the overall strategy of the group. In addition, the org unveiled its television lineup for Showtime Championship Boxing w/ Premier Boxing Champions for the first half of the year at the 2018 boxing upfront for advertisers. The network locked in 10 live boxing events featuring 12 world champions and 12 world title fights with a slate that offers seven matchups of top-10 ranked fighters, four matchups of top-five ranked fighters, four top-10 pound-for-pound rated world champions and one world title unification bout.

Meanwhile, Espinoza’s promotion comes after a year in which he guided Showtime to 33 world championship fights and 71 live bouts overall in 2017, including the Mayweather/McGregor fight last August. “Simply stated, Stephen is the heavyweight champion of his profession,” said David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks. “He is an innovator, equal parts thoughtful and tenacious, who has turned SHOWTIME boxing into the market leader, while also driving excellence in our documentaries and sports series.”

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