Klitschko's Return to HBO A Hit In The Ring And Ratings

By Jake Donovan 

Wladimir Klitschko’s latest appearance

on HBO came as a late surprise, when a deal was brokered to arrange for his

World heavyweight championship title defense versus unbeaten Kubrat Puelv to

air live on the pay-cable network.

The reigning heavyweight king

delivered in the ring and ultimately in the ratings. The rare Saturday

afternoon card pulled in an average of 620,000 viewers, peaking at nearly

700,000 viewers in its first time showing when the November 15 bout aired live

at 4:45 pm. ET.

Klitschko (63-3, 53KOs) won the

fight by 5^th round knockout in a performance far more exciting than

has been the case in the majority of what is on the verge of becoming a

historic title reign. The win was Klitschko’s 10^th defense of the

World lineal heavyweight crown and 17^th consecutive defense of at

least one alphabet title.

The ratings pull for November 15

exceeded his last showing on HBO, when he scored a 12-round decision over

Alexander Povetkin in an ugly, foul-filled affair last October. The live showing registered 534,000 viewers.

The bout with Povetkin

benefitted from a far greater promotion—the same-day replay was packaged

together with the ring return of Miguel Cotto, whose 3^rd round

stoppage of Devin Rodriguez was the highest rated fight of 2013.

Last weekend’s showdown with

Pulev (20-1, 11KOs) was picked up by HBO on short notice, therefore featuring

less promotion than desired, but still resonating with viewers. The first-time

viewing combined with the exclusive rebroadcast later Saturday evening

generated over 1 million viewers. 

All of that adds up to good news for Klitschko and HBO, with the November 15 bout the first of a recently formed pact between the network and the reigning heavyweight king. 

Klitshcko's next fight is eyed for the first quarter of 2015, with the possibility of the event taking place in the United States. The last stateside appearance for Klitschko came in Feb. '08, scoring a 12-round decision over Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

All data was provided by Nielsen Media Research.

Jake Donovan is the

@JakeNDaBox