Secrets and boxing at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and why Stephen Espinoza keeps bringing the fight game to town

• A boxing press conference was hidden away at a prohibition parlor in Las Vegas this week.
• Inside, multiple fighters jawed at each other, talking up a PBC on Showtime fight Saturday.

LAS VEGAS — Three men sat in separate chairs getting their hair cut Thursday at The Barbershop establishment inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

If you wanted any kind of fade, pompadour, or wet shave, then barbers like Rockstar, Elizabeth, or Gucci can get you looking and feeling fresh.

The receptionist asked for my name but I wasn't looking for a trim. Not today, at least. I said I was media, and so she led me through the store to what looked like the restroom.

Loud voices beckoned through the door as a speakeasy joint unveiled itself, a gem hidden from beyond those prepping themselves for a night at the blackjack tables.

It was like she was showing me the way to the next whiskey bar, as those looking for a hit of bourbon had come to the right place at this prohibition style parlor.

Camera crews stood with their gear on a stage and filmed six fighters, who throw hands in three separate matches Saturday, talk-up their chances during a pre-fight press conference.

Chris Colbert fights Hector Garcia in the weekend's Premier Boxing Champions headliner broadcast by Showtime Sports, which takes place at the avant-garde The Chelsea venue inside The Cosmo.

The New Yorker, with his dyed blue hair, stole the show. He grabbed the mic, interrogated his opponent, and generated a raucous energy from his excitable teammates in the audience.

Ukrainian former world champion boxer Viktor Postol, who fights fast-rising fighter Gary Antuanne Russell, spoke about competing while his family remain in a country defending itself from a Russian invasion.

Showtime Sports boss Stephen Espinoza watched things unfold from the back of this secret room — one of many The Cosmopolitan can brag, alongside other incognitio bars and restaurants tucked away inside this casino.

Playing on the theme of things hiding in plain sight, I asked Espinoza who Showtime's best-kept secret is in boxing.

"If you'd asked me this question about a year ago, I would've said probably Jerwin Ancajes," who defends his IBF super flyweight title Saturday against Fernando Martinez. "Maybe Brandun Lee," he added.

Showtime insiders are also high on Russell, who takes on the toughest test of his career to date against the long Postol, a jab-happy fighter accustomed to the big stage.

But Espinoza told Insider this week that because of "the way the boxing audience has connected with them, they're no longer secrets.

"I'm really optimistic about the future. When you look at Colbert, Gary Antuanne Russell, Brandun Lee — all of whom are young guys and not even close to reaching their peak," he said. "And we've got plenty of others."

Bringing fights to Las Vegas is no secret — it is 'instrumental to the health of the sport'

I covered fights in Vegas — at the MGM Grand, and at the T-Mobile Arena — before relocating here indefinitely.

And so it took me slightly by surprise that in three weekends of working events in this city as a resident, I've been at the Mandalay Bay, the UFC Apex, and now The Cosmopolitan.

For Espinoza, it's no great secret. "One of the strengths of Vegas is the city support for all sizes of events," he told Insider.

"We know about the bright lights and the casino support for the big, mega events. But to have the level of support both from the community in the casino, and the business environment for fights of this level, is a really important step in developing fighters to have them in a first-class venue in a first-class casino and get all the support that comes to it.

"It's one of the reasons why Vegas is so instrumental to the health of the sport of boxing."

For Espinoza at Showtime, and PBC's event Saturday, bringing an event to The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas "brings a different crowd and a different feel as it's a venue that looks great on TV.

"There's not just support here for the big events," Espinoza said, finishing. "It's small, medium, large events. Vegas, truly, is a fight town — and this sport is better for it."

Premier Boxing Champions on Showtime Sports begins 7 p.m. PT Saturday.