The main event will likely be the highest rated boxing event on ESPN networks since the 1990s.
ESPN’s live telecast of Saturday’s upset of welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao by unheralded Australian Jeff Horn delivered a 1.8 metered market rating according to Nielsen, making it the highest-rated fight on record for a cable network this decade.
The WBO welterweight championship main event between Filipino senator Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2,38 KOs) , boxing’s only eight-division world champion, against undefeated No. 1 contender Jeff Horn (17-0-1,11 KOs) delivered a 2.4 overnight rating. Horn defeated Pacquiao by a highly controversial unanimous decision before an Australian record boxing crowd of 51,052.
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Based on overnight Nielsen results, the “Battle of Brisbane” is likely to be the highest-rated fight on ESPN’s networks since the mid 1990’s.
Las Vegas was the top local market for the fight with a 4.0 metered market rating, including a 5.1 rating during the main event.
