Jennings-Dimitrenko ESPN Double Averaged 686,000 Viewers

[Ruthless-RKO]

ESPN’s boxing doubleheader Saturday night drew better ratings than each of the three previous Top Rank cards televised live on the network this summer.

Nielsen Media Research ratings released Tuesday revealed an average audience of 686,000 watched ESPN’s two-bout broadcast from Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the main event, heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings got up from a fourth-round knockdown to drop Alexander Dimitrenko three times on his way to a ninth-round, technical-knockout victory.

The average viewership for Saturday’s telecast, which began at 10 p.m. ET and lasted nearly an hour and 50 minutes, was significantly greater than the average audience for ESPN’s previous Top Rank broadcast.

That July 14 show from New Orleans was watched by an average of 518,000 viewers. New Orleans junior welterweight Regis Prograis (22-0, 19 KOs) stopped Argentina’s Juan Jose Velasco (20-1, 12 KOs) in the eighth round of the main event that night at Lakefront Arena.

A week earlier, ESPN’s July 7 telecast from Fresno, California, averaged 534,000 viewers. Lithuanian welterweight contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas (20-0, 16 KOs) defeated the Dominican Republic’s Juan Carlos Abreu (21-4-1, 19 KOs, 1 NC) by unanimous decision in the 10-round main event that night at SaveMart Center.

The previous Saturday night, a June 30 showed that featured WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez and Alexis Angulo in the main event, drew an average audience of 632,000. Mexico’s Ramirez (38-0, 25 KOs) out-pointed Colombia’s Angulo (23-1, 20 KOs) by unanimous decision in that 12-rounder at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Should these cards being doing better numbers? FS1 usually pull around the 1 million mark for Berto and co.

Yeh, it might be an increase from previous cards, they didn’t involve the best names, bar Zurdo who should be gaining more and more views each time he fights but I guess it’s his opponents that people are not interested in.

Also now with the ESPN app, don’t know how many subscribers they have.

[Lackeos]

Seems like decent ratings for two poorly-ranked heavyweights who the network probably barely had to pay.

[DrDuke]

Finally I've watched the fight. It was pretty good. Jennings was in control from the beginning. Dimitrenko caught him well in the 4th, but he didn't develop his success, Jennings was able to regroup. In the fight's final 2 rounds Jennings was close to KO win. The final knockdown should have been counted out, but KO would have most likely been scored anyway.

[SenorPipino]

Should these cards being doing better numbers? FS1 usually pull around the 1 million mark for Berto and co.

Yeh, it might be an increase from previous cards, they didn’t involve the best names, bar Zurdo who should be gaining more and more views each time he fights but I guess it’s his opponents that people are not interested in.

Also now with the ESPN app, don’t know how many subscribers they have.

Did you mean the Berto-Alexander bout? That fight was on the major, over the air FOX network, (not cable's much smaller FS1) which would explain the 1 million + figure.

Offhand I'd say that the decent numbers for Jennings-Dimitrenko reflect the public's knee jerk reaction to watching anything heavyweight.

The big boys have always been top draws, even if most viewers don't have a clue who the fighters are.

The heavyweight mystique.

[gilgamesh]

Should these cards being doing better numbers? FS1 usually pull around the 1 million mark for Berto and co.

Yeh, it might be an increase from previous cards, they didn’t involve the best names, bar Zurdo who should be gaining more and more views each time he fights but I guess it’s his opponents that people are not interested in.

Also now with the ESPN app, don’t know how many subscribers they have.

Did you mean the Berto-Alexander bout? That fight was on the major, over the air FOX network, (not cable's much smaller FS1) which would explain the 1 million + figure.

Offhand I'd say that the decent numbers for Jennings-Dimitrenko reflect the public's knee jerk reaction to watching anything heavyweight.

The big boys have always been top draws, even if most viewers don't have a clue who the fighters are.

The heavyweight mystique.

Turned out to be a pretty fun scrap too, and with Lennox Lewis in attendance cheering wildly for one of the guys in action it might've left a mark on the casual fans who don't know a lot about Heavyweights, but may remember Lennox.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Should these cards being doing better numbers? FS1 usually pull around the 1 million mark for Berto and co.

Yeh, it might be an increase from previous cards, they didn’t involve the best names, bar Zurdo who should be gaining more and more views each time he fights but I guess it’s his opponents that people are not interested in.

Also now with the ESPN app, don’t know how many subscribers they have.

Did you mean the Berto-Alexander bout? That fight was on the major, over the air FOX network, (not cable's much smaller FS1) which would explain the 1 million + figure.

Offhand I'd say that the decent numbers for Jennings-Dimitrenko reflect the public's knee jerk reaction to watching anything heavyweight.

The big boys have always been top draws, even if most viewers don't have a clue who the fighters are.

The heavyweight mystique.

Was Alexander-Ortiz on FS1?

[SenorPipino]

Should these cards being doing better numbers? FS1 usually pull around the 1 million mark for Berto and co.

Yeh, it might be an increase from previous cards, they didn’t involve the best names, bar Zurdo who should be gaining more and more views each time he fights but I guess it’s his opponents that people are not interested in.

Also now with the ESPN app, don’t know how many subscribers they have.

Did you mean the Berto-Alexander bout? That fight was on the major, over the air FOX network, (not cable's much smaller FS1) which would explain the 1 million + figure.

Offhand I'd say that the decent numbers for Jennings-Dimitrenko reflect the public's knee jerk reaction to watching anything heavyweight.

The big boys have always been top draws, even if most viewers don't have a clue who the fighters are.

The heavyweight mystique.

Was Alexander-Ortiz on FS1?

No. It was on the FOX network. One of the big American networks like ABC, NBC and CBS.

Anything on those big, non-cable networks will always attract huge viewer numbers. Apparently even Berto-Alexander.

FS1, a cable channel, probably doesn't even have half the viewership of ESPN, much less the FOX network.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Did you mean the Berto-Alexander bout? That fight was on the major, over the air FOX network, (not cable's much smaller FS1) which would explain the 1 million + figure.

Offhand I'd say that the decent numbers for Jennings-Dimitrenko reflect the public's knee jerk reaction to watching anything heavyweight.

The big boys have always been top draws, even if most viewers don't have a clue who the fighters are.

The heavyweight mystique.

Was Alexander-Ortiz on FS1?

No. It was on the FOX network. One of the big American networks like ABC, NBC and CBS.

Anything on those big, non-cable networks will always attract huge viewer numbers. Apparently even Berto-Alexander.

FS1, a cable channel, probably doesn't even have half the viewership of ESPN, much less the FOX network.

Ahhh.. cheers mate. Makes sense. Not from the states but I do know channels. Thanks for the clear.. i take it Wilder vs. Washington was on Fox free-to-air as well. That peaked around 1.8 million viewers.

[SenorPipino]

Was Alexander-Ortiz on FS1?

No. It was on the FOX network. One of the big American networks like ABC, NBC and CBS.

Anything on those big, non-cable networks will always attract huge viewer numbers. Apparently even Berto-Alexander.

FS1, a cable channel, probably doesn't even have half the viewership of ESPN, much less the FOX network.

Ahhh.. cheers mate. Makes sense. Not from the states but I do know channels. Thanks for the clear.. i take it Wilder vs. Washington was on Fox free-to-air as well. That peaked around 1.8 million viewers.

My recollection is that all of Wilder's non-Showtime championship fights were broadcast on the major over-the-air networks, not the smaller cable networks.

[adislav123]

The paid ref waiving the fight off from directly behind dimitrenko as soon as the russians knees are about to give in, is yet another foul faccette of corruption, i didn't see before. So stupidly blatantly obvious executed, it hurts.🤮

[SenorPipino]

The paid ref waiving the fight off from directly behind dimitrenko as soon as the russians knees are about to give in, is yet another foul faccette of corruption, i didn't see before. So stupidly blatantly obvious executed, it hurts.🤮

Okay.

But Dimitrenko looked the entire fight like he didn't want to be there.

I've never seen a seasoned boxer look so uneasy and apprehensive in the ring.

Sure he squawked when the ref halted it. All fighters do, unless they're unconscious.

But Dimitrenko was undoubtedly relieved to get out of there.