ESPN’s live telecast of the Saturday, May 10, Not a World Heavyweight Championship fight between Bermane “B. Ware” Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) and Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (36-4, 31 KOs) delivered a 0.8 overnight rating according to Nielsen, making it the highest-rated fight on any ESPN network since 2003 (Monte Barrett vs. Eric Kirkland delivered a 1.3 overnight rating on October 3, 2003, on ESPN2).
Stiverne defeated Arreola by TKO in the sixth round, making him the first boxer of Haitian descent to win a Heavyweight title, although the “championship” in question amounts to an absolutely meaningless designation.
Saturday’s fight is also tied for the third-highest-rated fight overall on any ESPN network (based on overnights, records date back to 2001). Meanwhile, international distribution firm Octapixx reports that the fight was broadcast and viewed in over 150 countries across the globe.
Stiverne vs. Arreola II Photos
Now, let’s examine those Stiverne vs. Arreola TV ratings further…
Of course, while ESPN is touting that figure, it isn’t exactly awe-inspiring stuff. First, how many non-Friday Night Fights cards have been aired on any of the networks in that time frame, and of those, how many were fights of note, in worthy time slots? I’d wager less than a handful’s worth, if even that many.
Second, any decree harking back to the good ol’ days of a Monte Barrett vs. Eric Kirkland fight should be immediately deleted from your press materials.
Third, the recent awful ratings for Klitschko vs. Leapai, a fight that aired in the daytime, with no promotion, were about half that, bringing in 468,000 viewers or roughly a .4 rating. On the other hand, Stiverne vs. Arreola II was a prime-time telecast, with promotion, and a self-touted “championship”, and the fight still drew just a whopping .8. As Kevin Iole mentions in the previously-linked article, ESPN’s average Saturday 5 pm rating is 1.4 million.
