By Jake Donovan

With the ease in which Artur Beterbiev turned away the challenge of Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic, the stiffer competition—it seems—turned out to be the fight for viewership.

The unbeaten light heavyweight titlist made his official debut as a Top Rank-exclusive boxer in his May 4 win over Kalajdzic at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif. The title fight topped an ESPN tripleheader which produced a telecast average of 480,000 viewers according to Nielsen Media Research.

An exclusive rebroadcast on ESPN—which aired at 1:45am ET—drew another 126,000 viewers, bringing the combined total to more than 600,000 viewers on a hectic Saturday night of sports activity.

Opening the telecast, super flyweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas registered his seventh successful title defense with a 7th round knockout of Japan’s Ryuichi Funai. Also on the show was rising prospect and local attraction Gabriel Flores Jr., whom made his ESPN debut in a three-round wipeout of Eduardo Pereira dos Reis.

The primetime figure is the second lowest since Top Rank and ESPN began its boxing series in 2017, and also 25% below the 2019 season average of 640,500 viewers through its first six lineal telecasts on the year. In barely escaping the bottom of the list, Saturday’s show provided barely more than a 2% increase over the March 23 low point which was topped by heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev’s knockout win over Bogdan Dinu.

It’s also more than a 26% drop from ESPN’s last primetime offering on its lineal platform, with the March 31 show—headlined by World light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk’s 5th round stoppage of Doudou Ngumbu—averaging 655,000 viewers.

Through six live boxing shows on its flagship network in 2019, ESPN’s best-performing card of the year still resides in its season debut.

The February 2 title fight doubleheader on the eve of the Super Bowl—topped by featherweight titlist Oscar Valdez’s ring return in a 7th round knockout of previously unbeaten Carmine Tommasone—averaged 880,000 viewers, hitting a peak over 1.022 million. More remarkable is that the ratings pull came without the benefit of Sergey Kovalev’s revenge-fueled rematch win over Eleider Alvarez which streamed live on ESPN+.

Saturday’s show was never going to threaten that mark given the amount of competition around the sporting world, including within boxing’s own realm and despite Beterbiev’s previous network appearance.

The first weekend of May is one of the most active of the year for televised sports. NBA Playoffs continue to enjoy strong ratings performances on air, with Saturday being no exception. A conference semifinals game between defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets was the most watched primetime telecast on Saturday, averaging more than 7.2 million viewers.

Also of note, second round action in the NHL Playoffs drew a healthy 4.55 million viewers. The NBC telecast—which began at 7:30pm ET—greatly benefited from the massive lead-in provided by The Kentucky Derby, the most watched event of the weekend drawing 16.341 million viewers from its 6:23pm ET start time—the expanded viewership aided by an extended review of the finish which resulted in the event’s first-ever disqualification of the presumed winner.

In stark contrast, ESPN’s boxing offering not only lacked a formidable lead-in but the telecast actually far outdrawing a college softball conference playoff game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. The 8:00pm ET telecast averaged just 382,000 viewers.

Beterbiev enjoyed a far stronger lead-in for his previous ESPN appearance, which came in Nov. ’17.

He won the title that night, stopping Enrcio Kölling in the opening bout of a live telecast which drew 1.48 million as a whole, with their fight specifically drawing 1.9 million viewers. The lofty rating came in strong part due to college football powerhouse Alabama Crimson Tide in a win over conference rival Mississippi St. in an ESPN primetime showing which averaged well over 8 million viewers.

As such, Beterbiev’s title produced a stronger ratings pull than the evening’s main event, Jose Ramirez in a 2nd round knockout of Mike Reed in front of a rabid crowd of more than 14,000 at the SaveMart Arena in Fresno, California.

Similar circumstances surrounded his most recent return to the Central Valley. This time, it was Beterbiev in the main event, but with the majority of the 10,000+ fans in attendance on hand to see Flores Jr.

Ultimately, Saturday’s card served dual purpose. The event helped get Beterbiev back in the ring as his career has been plagued by inactivity and promotional disputes. Wedging it in on an active sports night was a viewership loss Top Rank and ESPN were willing to take, as the light heavyweight had to get in a fight prior to the holy Ramadan season which began Sunday and runs through June 4.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox