Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN telecast, featuring Vasiliy Lomachenko successfully defending his WBO World Junior Lightweight title against Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-1-0, 11 KO), delivered big on ratings and viewership, making it Saturday’s most-viewed telecast on cable television among men 18-34 and men 18-49, according to final viewership data from Nielsen Media Research.
December 9 Top Things to Know
- All four of Saturday night’s fights within the telecast averaged at least 1.6 million viewers and rank among the top eight fights on cable in 2017
- Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN averaged 1,845,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN Deportes, including 405,000 Hispanic viewers
- On ESPN, the full telecast averaged 1,730,000 viewers and was the most-viewed Hispanic telecast of the day on the network
- On ESPN Deportes, the full telecast averaged 115,000 viewers and was the most-viewed telecast of the day on the network
- On ESPN, the telecast averaged 290,000 Hispanic viewers and 17% of the audience was of Hispanic descent. The telecast was the most-viewed telecast of the day on cable television among Hispanic adults 18 to 49.
Top Rank on ESPN to date
- Saturday’s Top Rank on ESPN telecast ranks as the second most-viewed boxing telecast on cable in 2017, behind the Top Rank on ESPN Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn July telecast
- To date, Top Rank on ESPN is averaging 1.6 million viewers and 55% of the audience has been multicultural
- Top Rank on ESPN has also aired the twelve most-viewed fights on cable in 2017
*Note that telecast refers to full window (e.g. 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.) and fight refers to each single fight during the telecast
Viewers for Top Boxing Fights on Cable Television in 2017
| NET |
Date |
Fight |
Viewers |
| ESPN |
07/01/2017 |
Manny Pacquiao/Jeff Horn |
3,925,000 |
| ESPN |
07/01/2017 |
Jerwin Ancajas/Teiru Kinoshita |
2,234,000 |
| ESPN |
12/09/2017 |
Vasiliy Lomachenko/Guillermo Rigondeaux |
2,114,000 |
| ESPN |
07/01/2017 |
Michael Conlan/Jarrett Owen |
1,867,000 |
| ESPN |
11/11/2017 |
Artur Beterbiev/Enrico Koelling |
1,725,000 |
| ESPN |
12/09/2017 |
Shakur Stevenson/Oscar Mendoza |
1,687,000 |
| ESPN |
12/09/2017 |
Chris Diaz/Bryant Cruz |
1,647,000 |
| ESPN |
12/09/2017 |
Michael Conlan/Luis Fernando Molina |
1,635,000 |
| ESPN |
08/19/2017 |
Terence Crawford/Julius Indongo |
1,327,000 |
| ESPN |
11/11/2017 |
José Ramírez/Mike Reed |
1,182,000 |
| ESPN |
07/01/2017 |
Shane Mosley Jr./David Touissaint |
1,177,000 |
| ESPN |
08/19/2017 |
Oleksandr Gvozdyk/Craig Baker |
968,000 |
Next up for Top Rank on ESPN is the Saturday, February 3 bout between Gilbert “Zurdo” Ramirez, Mexico’s super middleweight champion, defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) title against Top-Five world-rated contender Habib “Wild Hurricane” Ahmed from Accra, Ghana. The fight will take place at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX, and will be televised live and exclusively at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App.
