Boxing Fans You Must Tune In For Fights On Free TV Such as Danny Garcia Vs Keith Thurman!

By BJ “Warhammer” Proctor

Before this past Saturday, 147 pound WBC champion Danny Garcia had a single fight this year, all the way back in January. Nearly 10 months in total between fights, and over 8 months before we were informed that he would be fighting in November. It was announced a few weeks back that Garcia would be facing Samuel Vargas on November 12th which as expected was met with a resounding wave of disappointment. After rumors of the possibility for Garcia to face the likes of Andre Berto, which then later turned to John Molina. Finding out that Garcia was facing Vargas after having nearly the entire year off was frustrating to say the least. Also more fuel added to the fire for the Garcia detractors, who have labeled him, however unfairly, a cherry picker. Lost in the disappointment for some, was the fact that during the announcement of the Vargas fight, it was also confirmed that the very next fight for Garcia should he be victorious would be Keith “One Time” Thurman.

Fast forward to this past Saturday and we had a dominant performance by Garcia with a TKO victory in the 7th round. Keith Thurman traveled from Florida to the City of Brotherly Love to be in attendance and help the broadcast by giving fight commentary during the bout. If the announcement of the clash between the undefeated champions didn’t immediately spark your attention, the fireworks that were set off in the ring after the bout surely got your blood pumping and counting down the days until these 2 step into the ring. The showdown and war of words alone could be used to promote and bring huge attention to an already mouthwatering fight. This fight has all the potential to be a huge step in the right direction to putting boxing back on the map with the hardcore and casual fans alike.

What many may have missed is that Keith Thurman had hinted to the fact that the fight although announced to be on Showtime, could land on CBS free television. Just days before his fight, Garcia confirmed what many had hoped to be the case when he was quoted in an on camera interview done by fightview360.com by saying that the fight would indeed be on CBS.

Since the launch of PBC Premier Boxing Champions in March of 2015, the reception has been lukewarm for many. Although the concept of free boxing had many hardcore fans drooling at the possibilities. Many in the boxing world have been critical of its design and some have gone as far as to pray for its downfall. Boxing has been available at an astronomical rate due to PBC but the lack of great fights has left many wondering if the model could actually work. While the notion that quality should always trump quantity is very true, PBC has put on some of the best and most viewed boxing broadcast over the last 2 years. During primetime slots on Fox, NBC, and CBS the numbers have been great, and PBC has even enjoyed success on the smaller networks like ESPN and Spike TV as well. The debut of PBC which happened to land on NBC was the most watched boxing program since 1998! Boxing is far from dead, and the fans will always tune in if the fight is as tantalizing as is Garcia vs Thurman.

To understand the potential of this fight and the ramifications it could possibly have towards fully bringing boxing back, here are a few of the numbers that PBC has produced. Thurman vs Guerrero peaked at 4.2 mil and had an average of 3.28 mil viewers. Porter vs Broner had 2.38, Garcia vs Peterson had 2.9, Dirrell vs DeGale had 1.41. Garcia vs Guerrero had 2.24, Spence vs Algieri had 1.24, and the rematch of Berto and Ortiz did an average of 1.51 mil. Both Garcia vs Malignaggi and Mares vs Santa Cruz on ESPN averaged over a million viewers while the Mares vs Cruz fight was the most watched boxing broadcast on ESPN since February 1998! Thurman’s most recent fight vs Shawn Porter had a 2.0 rating, peaking at 2.6 in the final 30 minutes. The CBS ratings increased every 30 minutes from 9 to 11:30 pm. We also cannot forget that Spence vs Bundu had a 4.6 rating which roughly translates to about 6 million viewers. Now many have tried to downplay the significance of that number because the fight came on immediately after the Olympic coverage. The Men’s basketball team had just won the Gold medal, but what must not be lost and is very encouraging is that 75% of the audience stayed from the Olympic coverage and watched the Spence KO victory over Bundu.

That is two different boxing broadcast over the last two years that PBC produced that have brought in more viewers than any other in nearly 20 years! PBC despite its shortcomings could potentially be huge for the sport of boxing. A fight like Garcia vs Thurman is just the type of fight that could put PBC and boxing in general fully back in the center of the sports world.

On March 4th, 2017 we will have what promises to be an epic clash of undefeated champions in a unification fight as well as the potential for superstar stature. Danny “Swift” Garcia 33-0, 19 KO’s will face Keith “One Time” Thurman 27-0, 22 KO’s and both the WBC and WBA 147 pound titles will be on the line. We have 4 months before this clash, which is plenty of time to promote this fight and garner as many viewers as possible. Both Thurman and Garcia have maintained good to great numbers separately and the thought that these two matched together bringing big numbers is not misplaced whatsoever. The NFL season will be long gone, March Madness doesn’t start for another 10 days after the fight and the potential for viewers may not be at a better point in the year.

The importance of this moment should not be lost on the boxing world. While many argue daily over fights that should happen, or fights that haven’t happened, we have an enormous fight between two of boxing’s brightest young stars putting it all on the line. Every boxing fan, journalist, and insider should be screaming from the mountain tops to every potential viewer, telling them to tune into this fight. With the fight being on CBS primetime that number is unlimited, and hopefully this can be one of if not the most watched boxing broadcast in years. Giving boxing a much needed boost amongst its casual viewers and showing that it’s still here, it never left, and it is still the king of combat sports.

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