Teofimo Lopez’s title win against Ukranian Vasyl Lomachenko was the first title fight after the COVID-19 pandemic. The worldwide crisis brought a stop to the sport for over five months. However, with the unification bout between Lopez and Lomachenko, big things were expected in terms of views and numbers. The fighters may have delivered in the ring, but how did the views do?

As per the Nielsen Media Research, the match was the most watched boxing event across all networks since 2019. In ESPN Events, this fight was the most watched in the US since the Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn fight in 2017, which was at a staggering peak of 4.4 million views with a 2.8 million average.

However, the entire Lopez-Lomachenko event, including the prelims, averaged 1.54 million views. And with the main event, there was an average viewership of 2.7 million viewers and it never dropped below the 2.3 million mark. The peak of the fight was at 2.89 million viewers.

What is more fascinating about these numbers is that the main event didn’t start until almost midnight ET. The whole broadcast was almost 6 hours long and still averaged 1.54 million viewers. This shows that fans were eager to watch the fight and were ready to stay up to watch the live telecast.

Although one should note that fights in the past would have had fans in the arena, whereas this fight was behind closed doors. It was only available to stream.

Lopez-Lomachenko views on different streams

These numbers are exclusive of the streaming numbers. The fight was streamed on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes. The estimate is that there are 83 million ESPN+ subscribers in the USA alone. This shows that the fight could have done even better than the number show.

In the end, Teofimo Lopez won the fight via unanimous decision after a 12-round blockbuster. The fight went to the judges’ scorecards who scored it 117-111, 119-109, and 116-112 in favor of the Brooklyn fighter, making him the unified lightweight champion of the world.

Thus, the unification bout between these two talented fighters showed that the sport is back on the rise. There have been several questions on how boxing numbers would do post pandemic. This fight will have answered a lot of those critics.

Top Stories

Anthony Joshua Discharged From Hospital as Police Arrest Driver Over Fatal Car Crash in Nigeria

Jake Paul Faces Another Setback as WBA Drops Him After Anthony Joshua Knockout Loss

“Rest in Peace”: Condolences Pour In as Legendary Coach Freddie Roach Mourns Personal Loss

Floyd Mayweather Faces Threat of Losing Post-Boxing Empire as 8-Figure Debts Mount: Report

“Stop”: Jarrell Miller Makes Emotional Plea After Family Car Crash as Anthony Joshua Story Hits Home