The Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card Thursday evening lost its main event. And then it lost in the ratings.
The June 18 five-fight show, which lost the Jose Pedraza-Mikkel LesPierre fight after LesPierre’s manager tested positive for COVID-19, averaged 305,000 viewers and peaked at 382,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Those figures are the lowest of four shows since the return of boxing in the U.S.
Lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores Jr. outpointed Josec Diaz in the new main event Thursday in a tightly controlled MGM Grand ballroom in Las Vegas.
Here are the ratings for the first three cards:
- June 9 – Shakur Stevenson vs. Felix Caraballo, 397,000 average and 609,000 peak.
- June 11 – Jessie Magdeleno vs. Yenifel Vicente, 311,000 average and 392,000 peak.
- June 16 – Mike Plania vs. Joshua Greer Jr., 350,000 average and 503,000 peak.
Top Rank has a special show this Saturday featuring junior featherweight titleholder Emanuel Navarrete in Mexico City on ESPN+, the network’s streaming service.
Navarrete (31-1, 27 KOs) is scheduled to face Uriel Lopez (13-13-1, 6 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout.
The weekday series on ESPN and ESPN Deportes picks up again next week. On Tuesday, in the main event, Australian junior bantamweight contender Andrew Moloney (21-0, 14 KOs) will face Joshua Franco (16-1-2, 8 KOs) in a scheduled 12-rounder. On Thursday, twin brother Jason Moloney (20-1, 17 KOs) faces Leonard Baez (18-2, 9 KOs) in a 10-round bantamweight fight.