Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza: It wasn’t me who silenced Conor McGregor’s microphone

Conor McGregor turned Tuesday’s mishap with his microphone at Staples Center into a launching point Wednesday in Toronto, where he called Showtime Executive Vice President Stephen Espinoza “a … weasel.”

McGregor announced he suspects Showtime, which has broadcast Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s last six pay-per-view boxing matches and is handling their coming Aug. 26 novelty match from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, intentionally silenced the Irish UFC champion after he urged Mayweather to “show the taxman” a $100-million check that Mayweather produced on stage Tuesday.

“Cut the champ-champ’s mic off? Hell no!” McGregor roared to the outdoor crowd in Toronto. “They’re trying to set me up, catch me off guard, get me in awkward position, but I thrive in awkward positions. There’s nothing these guys can do to faze me.”

Espinoza remained seated as McGregor approached him and barked before also taking one of the multiple verbal swings he landed on Mayweather in Wednesday’s appearance.

On Tuesday, McGregor’s attempts to answer Mayweather’s slams were muted.

“To set the record straight, at no time did Showtime or event productions intentionally cut microphones during Tuesday’s kickoff event in Los Angeles,” Espinoza said in a statement emailed to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

“The point of this world tour is to let these superstars interact with the fans and with each other. Cutting their mics would go against the premise, which is to deliver these fighters to the masses and let Mayweather and McGregor take center stage.”

Clearly, that’s what McGregor accomplished Wednesday in successfully answering Mayweather’s digs, with stops on the fighters’ international promotional tour continuing Thursday at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Friday in London .

Espinoza said the massive media interest in Tuesday’s event led to McGregor’s radio silence.

“There were a few minor technical difficulties on that first show,” he said. “My guys informed me afterward that we had another issue with wireless mics during the pre-show. The likely culprits were the dozens of TV news crews using wireless mics that interfered with the frequencies we were using on stage.”

The on-stage confrontation was something the low-key Espinoza wasn’t seeking, but since it happened and produced good theater, he clearly isn’t too distressed about it as his network is receiving widespread traffic on its streams, with the possibility of Mayweather-McGregor becoming the most successful pay-per-view fight of all time.

“On to New York,” Espinoza said.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire