Oscar Valdez closed the show in the ring and provided a much-needed ratings boost for his promoter in the process.

The July 21 edition of Top Rank Boxing on ESPN—topped by Valdez’s 10th round knockout of Puerto Rico’s Jayson Velez—averaged 399,000 viewers over the course of the three-hour telecast, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Tuesday’s five-fight telecast peaked at 471,000 viewers, coming in the 9:45-10:00pm ET block—when rising super middleweight Edgar Berlanga extended his 1st round knockout streak to 14 in a row following a 62-second blitzing of Eric Moon. 

Valdez’s win over Velez (29-7-1, 21KOs) came in slightly under that mark, averaging more than 457,000 viewers. The 10-round main event peaked at 460,000 viewers, coming in the 10:00-10:15pm ET block. His bout topped the final Tuesday edition of the closed-doors series at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, with Top Rank moving to Thursdays only from the same venue beginning in August.

The overall telecast average is the best of the 13 weeknight editions which debuted six weeks ago. Valdez’s second straight win at junior lightweight—following a three-year featherweight title reign—eclipsed the June 9 series debut, which averaged 397,000 viewers. Topping that card was another former featherweight titlist now campaigning at 130 pounds, as Shakur Stevenson stopped Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo in the 6th round of a bout which peaked at 609,000 viewers.

Nogales, Mexico’s Valdez (28-0, 22KOs) moved up in weight last November, climbing off of the canvas to stop Adam Lopez in seven rounds. The win was to have set up a mouthwatering clash with countryman and reigning 130-pound titlist Miguel Berchelt (38-1, 34KOs). The ongoing coronavirus pandemic stalled those plans, with both boxers instead given separate ESPN headliners behind closed doors.

Berchelt appeared on the June 27 edition of the series, one of two shows to have aired on a Saturday night and live from Mexico City. The event overall averaged 416,000 viewers and peaking at 793,000 at the start of the telecast, though both figures heavily skewed by a strong lead-in from a UFC Fight Night card.

By the time Berchelt made his way to the ring, viewership dramatically trailed off. His win over Eleazer Valenzuela averaged 349,000 viewers, peaking at 381,000.

The latest installment lands well above the overall series’ average of 337,333 viewers among the 15 total telecasts.

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