The official Deontay Wilder TV ratings following last weekend’s WBC heavyweight title fight show perhaps a slight increase in interest in US pro boxing once again.
Last year Premier Boxing Champions, which is the TV series that has a lot of the TV dates in US pro boxing at the moment, had a big night following the Olympics when welterweight contender Errol Spence Jr drew a massive audience one night following the broadcast of the games on NBC.
Many naysayers said that it was just a flash in the pan however, as the timing was perfect with those who were watching the Olympics on the above particular evening – who then saw the Spence fight straight after that coverage.
But I’m not convinced of the scepticism and have not been for some time since.
There does seem to be a gradual shift in improvement in tangible boxing numbers in the US.
Respected LA journalist Lance Pugmire reporting on Twitter that Wilder vs Washington last weekend on the Fox Card peaked at 2.57 million viewers is further confirmation of this.
While not huge, they are not bad.
Considering not many people outside the boxing fan demographic would have known who Washington actually was.
There wasn’t any big names on the undercard either. Nor is Wilder a household name in the US just yet – in all fairness.
This all points to the numbers being more and more influenced by folks interested in catching some free boxing on TV.
Lets see what the next big free network fight does before we get too ahead of ourselves of course, but the above are certainly encouraging in my view.
