Well, waddaya know...boxing ain't dead. Truth be told, it's far from dead. As they say, numbers don't lie. And the numbers for Saturday night's Premiere Boxing Champions' card on NBCs flagship station were pretty impressive.
As NBC itself declared in a Monday press release, Saturday's broadcast brought in the highest boxing ratings since 1998. That's the most in fifteen years.
Per NBC:
"Saturday night’s debut of the Premiere Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC was the most-watched professional boxing broadcast since 1998, according to Fast National Data from The Nielsen Company."
That's good news for fight fans, good news for NBC and good news for adviser Al Haymon, the force behind PBC and the attempt to get boxing back into the American mainstream. On average, PBC brought in roughly three and a half million sets of eyeballs on Saturday evening.
As NBC stated, however:
"Viewership increased every half hour through the telecast and peaked at 4.2 million from 10:30-11 p.m. ET during the exciting Rounds 7-12 of Keith Thurman’s unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero."
Indeed, the final few rounds of Saturday's main event between Thurman and Guerrero made the bout a thriller, with Guerrero receiving an incredible beating, but continuing to give it his all. It's was a terrific fight, the kind die hard boxing fans were hoping for.
Good matchups don't always guarantee good bouts. When the fighters deliver, however, people simply want to watch the drama. That's what happened on Saturday night. Hopefully, that's what will continue to happen with PBC cards down the road.
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