The Deontay Wilder-Dominic Breazeale fight drew 791,000 viewers Saturday night on Showtime. The ratings reflect the fight alone on the network. Including streaming, the average live viewership drew 886,000 viewers.
The bout peaked at 990,000 viewers and there was not time to peak as Wilder knocked out Breazeale in 2 minutes and 17 seconds of the very first round.
The first fight of the telecast between Juan Heraldez and Argenis Mendez drew 505,000 viewers. The two fought to a draw. The second fight of the night between Gary Russell, Jr. and Kiko Martinez drew 549,000 viewers. Russell stopped Martinez due to cuts.
Payout Perspective:
The event, based on linear ratings, had lower ratings than other Showtime events featuring Wilder. His fight versus Luis Ortiz peaked at 1.2M viewers and averaged 1.1M. It did draw higher than his second fight with Bermaine Stiverne which drew 824,000. The question some will ask is whether this fight would have done better financially if it was on DAZN or on PPV. We won’t know, but Wilder should be pushing for a Fury or Joshua fight in the future instead of a rematch with Ortiz or another heavyweight.
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