Munguia’s Win Against Ali Drew Peak of 779,000 Viewers for HBO

[Ruthless-RKO]

The ratings for his HBO debut understandably weren’t as high for Jaime Munguia’s huge win Saturday night as those for the middleweight champion he wanted to fight a week earlier.

Viewers still are much more familiar with the Mexican knockout artist than they were this time last week.

Ratings released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research showed a peak audience of 779,000 watched Munguia’s fourth-round stoppage of Sadam Ali on Saturday night. Their relatively short bout was watched by an average of 711,000 viewers.

The opener of HBO’s doubleheader Saturday night, Rey Vargas’ victory over Azat Hovhannisyan, attracted a peak audience of 740,000 and averaged 619,000 viewers. Mexico’s Vargas (32-0, 22 KOs) beat Armenia’s Hovhannisyan (14-3, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight for Vargas’ WBC super bantamweight championship.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Good numbers for Munguia.

I THINK the fact that he was linked to fighting GGG, he was really close to replacing Canelo. Was in the news a lot. This definately helped the fight get that amount of viewers.

[SenorPipino]

That 700,000 to 800,000 range sounds about average for an HBO telecast that doesn't feature a "name" fighter.

I don't know if the earlier ESPN Lomachenko-Linares bout hurt or helped the ratings.

That bout may have a better public appetite to watch more boxing.

But some may have had their fight fix and weren't interestd in any more.

But all in all, decent numbers for 2 fighters who weren't household names.

Actually, having the Mexican Munguia involved may have increased viewershiphip over what would have been expected for a lightly anticipated Ali-Smith matchup.

[Best Coast]

That 700,000 to 800,000 range sounds about average for an HBO telecast that doesn't feature a "name" fighter.

I don't know if the earlier ESPN Lomachenko-Linares bout hurt or helped the ratings.

That bout may have a better public appetite to watch more boxing.

But some may have had their fight fix and weren't interestd in any more.

But all in all, decent numbers for 2 fighters who weren't household names.

Actually, having the Mexican Munguia involved may have increased viewershiphip over what would have been expected for a lightly anticipated Ali-Smith matchup.

You nailed it on that last sentence. Ali has virtually NO following outside of NYC and Smith is an unknown Brit. The presence of Vargas and Munguia on HBO boosted the Mexican viewership big time.

ESPN is basic cable & HBO is premium so there's really no comparison between the potential viewership of the 2.

[DA1]

You nailed it on that last sentence. Ali has virtually NO following outside of NYC and Smith is an unknown Brit. The presence of Vargas and Munguia on HBO boosted the Mexican viewership big time.

ESPN is basic cable & HBO is premium so there's really no comparison between the potential viewership of the 2.

The solution to making non-Mexican fighters bigger names is putting them on the undercard of established acts. That way they receive exposure and can grow their fanbase. Golden Boy fills their undercards with Mexicans instead. One of the reason why their undercards are unwatchable, because its all PROSPECTS (from Mexico) instead of champions and contenders (regardless of origin).

But that would require that GBP actually gave a sh-t about Sadam Ali, which they clearly don't. The whole card was designed for a Mexican win and it delivered.

[Ruthless-RKO]

You nailed it on that last sentence. Ali has virtually NO following outside of NYC and Smith is an unknown Brit. The presence of Vargas and Munguia on HBO boosted the Mexican viewership big time.

ESPN is basic cable & HBO is premium so there's really no comparison between the potential viewership of the 2.

The solution to making non-Mexican fighters bigger names is putting them on the undercard of established acts. That way they receive exposure and can grow their fanbase. Golden Boy fills their undercards with Mexicans instead. One of the reason why their undercards are unwatchable, because its all PROSPECTS (from Mexico) instead of champions and contenders (regardless of origin).

But that would require that GBP actually gave a sh-t about Sadam Ali, which they clearly don't. The whole card was designed for a Mexican win and it delivered.

Kinda like how Arum places prospects on Loma's undercards.

[Best Coast]

You nailed it on that last sentence. Ali has virtually NO following outside of NYC and Smith is an unknown Brit. The presence of Vargas and Munguia on HBO boosted the Mexican viewership big time.

ESPN is basic cable & HBO is premium so there's really no comparison between the potential viewership of the 2.

The solution to making non-Mexican fighters bigger names is putting them on the undercard of established acts. That way they receive exposure and can grow their fanbase. Golden Boy fills their undercards with Mexicans instead. One of the reason why their undercards are unwatchable, because its all PROSPECTS (from Mexico) instead of champions and contenders (regardless of origin).

But that would require that GBP actually gave a sh-t about Sadam Ali, which they clearly don't. The whole card was designed for a Mexican win and it delivered.

If you are saying Oscar is a Mexican nationalist I wont try to dispute that. I wouldnt be surprised if his car's vanity license plate says "Viva La Raza".

[DA1]

You nailed it on that last sentence. Ali has virtually NO following outside of NYC and Smith is an unknown Brit. The presence of Vargas and Munguia on HBO boosted the Mexican viewership big time.

ESPN is basic cable & HBO is premium so there's really no comparison between the potential viewership of the 2.

The solution to making non-Mexican fighters bigger names is putting them on the undercard of established acts. That way they receive exposure and can grow their fanbase. Golden Boy fills their undercards with Mexicans instead. One of the reason why their undercards are unwatchable, because its all PROSPECTS (from Mexico) instead of champions and contenders (regardless of origin).

But that would require that GBP actually gave a sh-t about Sadam Ali, which they clearly don't. The whole card was designed for a Mexican win and it delivered.

If you are saying Oscar is a Mexican nationalist I wont try to dispute that. I wouldnt be surprised if his car's vanity license plate says "Viva La Raza".

I don't have a problem with him even if he was. But at some point, people really need to call it out like it is. Mexicans are the biggest boxing demographic in the US, but there's Mexicans on literally all events/promotions, and they have their own shows on the Spanish networks where its just them...by themselves. Perhaps boxing wouldn't be so isolated to one demo, if we facilitated it better to bring more exposure to the other champions and divisions when there isn't a Mexican.

PBC has its own problem. On their shows, its all North Americans. Like they have a ban on Asians or something. At least HBO and ESPN have a variety of fighters from Russia, Central-Asia, Thailand, Japan and Philippines. Not on SHO though.


Boxing is entertaining when you have that rivalry and diversity, like you're really watching the best of the world. Not just one small corner of the planet. Its what's killing boxing. The average boxing event has such a BORING undercard because of these promoters, that the new generation doesn't care for it. Compared to MMA where you can watch most of the entire card. In 2 hours you can go through 4 MMA fights and something will be entertaining (even though MMA cards aren't nowhere as stack as they used to be pre-UFC Fox deal) whereas in boxing its 2 fights, so imagine what its like when its boring? Instead of putting any half-decent fight as their own headliner, put it on the undercard. Stack these cards with exciting fights and champions from overseas (like what Superfly did), and build stars in the process.