By Jake Donovan
Sergey Kovalev enjoyed a triumphant ring return on the heels of a Fighter of the Year-level campaign in 2014, scoring an 8th round stoppage of Jean Pascal in their March 14 light heavyweight title fight on the road Montreal, Canada.
In addition to becoming the first to stop the former light heavyweight king, Kovalev further solidified his stance atop the division and as a ratings magnet. The unbeaten knockout artist was a hit with the home audience, as the bout registered 1.152 million viewers, according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research.
The bout peaked at 1.2 million home viewers.
The ratings are a drop from Kovalev’s last ring appearance, a tour-de-force 12-round shutout of the legendary Bernard Hopkins last November. Their HBO headliner served as the 2nd most watched pay-cable fight of 2014, peaking at just under 1.4 million viewers.
Still, network brass is content with the recent results, with the success coming despite a number of obstacles. Despite the broadcast beginning earlier than usual (9:45pm ET), the main event didn’t hit the ring until shortly after midnight on the East Coast.
The late start for the headlining bout was due to its lead-in fights going the distance. Vyacheslav Glazkov managed to remains heavyweight’s Teflon contender, scoring a debatable decision over former cruiserweight titlist Steve Cunningham in their 12-round title eliminator.
The bout—a stinker, which marked the network debut for both fighters—registered 958,000 viewers on the night, peaking at 1.057 million viewers.
Also making their respective HBO debuts were the participants in the televised opener. Previously unbeaten Vasily Lepikhin delivered the letdown of a lifetime, as he was taken to school by contender Isaac Chilemba over 10 one-sided rounds. Despite the lack of ebb and flow—or sustained action—the bout still pulled in a respectable 850,000 viewers, topping out at 968,000.
While the undercard players were all appearing in front of HBO cameras for the first time, Kovalev has rapidly—and violently—emerged as a bona fide network star. The bout marked his sixth consecutive HBO appearance, all coming within the span of 19 months. The Russian light heavyweight has scored knockouts in five of his six bouts, with only Hopkins managing to hear the final bell, but not winning a single round in the process.
Pascal could at least claim to have fared better, giving Kovalev a bit of a test before eventually succumbing to his power. The bout marked his fourth network appearance, beginning with his having won the lineal light heavyweight championship with a technical decision over Chad Dawson in Aug. ’10. The reign was shortlived, conceding the crown to Bernard Hopkins in their HBO-televised rematch in May ’11 (their first bout—which ended in a draw—aired on Showtime).
His lone other bout on HBO came last January, scoring a lopsided 12-round decision over countryman Lucian Bute. The event did big business in Canada but which produced lukewarm ratings for HBO’s first show of the 2014 boxing season.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
