The Anthony Joshua-Joseph Parker fight on Showtime Saturday afternoon drew 346,000 viewers according to Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily.
Joshua defeated Parker by unanimous decision before a reported 80,000 fans at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The event was aired live on Showtime in the United States. The telecast started at 2pm PT as the only televised fight. Showtime aired the ring walks and was able to draw on the crowd reactions.
The event did slightly better than Joshua’s last fight live on Showtime in October. His fight against Wladimir Klitschko this past May drew 659,000 viewers on Showtime.
Also, on Saturday night, Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN had a live event which drew 259,000 viewers for a card featuring little-known Mark Deluca and Michael Moore. It drew 0.06 for the over 2-hour event which began at 7:05 pm PT.
Payout Perspective:
It was free weekend of Showtime for cable/satellite TV subscribers although that viewing audience is not usually factored into the ratings. However, the ability to air the event gave more visibility to Joshua’s growing popularity. 346,000 is not a very good rating for Anthony Joshua but when you consider it was during Saturday afternoon of Easter weekend opposite the Final Four probably contributed to the number.
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