BoxRec

No. 2 on Cable Since 2012

The ESPN broadcast headlined by the Vasyl Lomachenko-Guillermo Rigondeaux fight Saturday night drew the second-highest audience for boxing on cable television since 2012.

The 154-minute broadcast, which included four fights, was watched by an average of 1.73 million viewers, according to ratings released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

Only one boxing telecast on basic or premium cable over the past five years, Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn, drew higher ratings than the Lomachenko-Rigondeaux card. That four-fight broadcast, which featured Horn’s upset of Pacquiao on July 2 in Brisbane, Australia, attracted an average viewership of 2,818,000.

The most-watched fight of HBO’s tripleheader Saturday night from Las Vegas, Miguel Roman’s ninth-round stoppage of Orlando Salido, averaged 534,000 viewers over 34 minutes. The ESPN and HBO boxing broadcasts partially went head-to-head, but the entire Roman-Salido main event aired after Lomachenko-Rigondeaux ended.

The Lomachenko-Rigondeaux show also attracted a bigger audience than UFC’s telecast Saturday night on FS1. The UFC broadcast averaged 870,000 viewers over a 185-minute period.

ESPN’s boxing broadcast also topped UFC in the coveted 18-49 demographic (761,000 viewers to 413,000) and in the 25-54 age range (736,000 to 464,000).

The overall viewership for the Lomachenko-Rigondeaux broadcast ultimately will be higher because the figures reported by Nielsen on Tuesday don’t include viewers that watched it on ESPN Deportes, through ESPN’s streaming services and away from homes (bars, restaurants, other non-household feeds).

ESPN TOP RANK deal very good for boxing.

Very respectable numbers, especially when you consider it was clash of two 130 lbs foreign boxers.

Definately. Did better than Crawford vs. Indongo

It's cool so many possible new fans got exposure to elite fighters, while being in bars etc. Fight wasn't trapped on HBO or Showtime where only long time boxing fans would see the fight.

But how does that number compare to an ordinary weeknight college basketball game on ESPN?

I suspect that it's comparable, so while it's impressive for boxing on cable television, it's a routine number for most smaller sports.

You have to figure that hard core boxing fans made it a must-see appointment for last Saturday.

But how many casual fans or just sports fans in general bothered to tune in?

Neither fighter has a mainstream name or appeal, so it fell well short of the Pacquiao-Horn viewership from July.

Even if Horn was a non-entity, the Pacquiao name still resonates in the sports world. That fight drew nearly 3 million viewers. I'm certain that plenty of them were casual fans, curious to see a legend.

Did many of those same casual fans tune in Saturday to watch two guys they probably never heard of?

You are right, but Manny also did not attract casual fans 4 years after his pro debut :) ...give Lomachenko some time. These fighters are good for boxing,

My point is that I'm not certain that many "new fans" actual tuned into the bout, as victor-romeo opines.

Truth be told, the fight was in no way memorable.

It was a dull contest with scant drama.

Pacquiao made a name for himself and captured world attention because he was an all-action fighter always moving UP in weight to oppose name boxers.

Lomachenko took on a smaller guy and though he won handily, he was no ball of fire.

Casual fans watching Saturday night certainly didn't say "I can't wait to see that Lomachenko again."

They just shrugged and turned to FOX Sports to watch MMA.

By time Loma fights again, most of these casual fans who might have tuned in, will probably have forgotten his name.

With his destruction of De La Hoya, and decimation of Hatton, no one forgot Pacquiao's name. He made new fans in an instant.