Saturday?s national broadcast of Mike Alvarado?s championship defense against Ruslan Provodnikov in Colorado drew 1.2 million TV viewers on HBO, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Denver?s Alvarado lost by 10th-round TKO after choosing not to return for the 11th round. Provodnikov stole away the World Boxing Organization junior welterweight title.
HBO?s broadcast, with Jim Lampley calling blow-by-blow action and Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. on color commentary, is the ninth most-watch boxing broadcast on cable TV in 2013. The 1.2 million viewers about matched the audience for Alvarado?s title-winning fight against Brandon Rios in March on HBO.
The favorable TV ratings, in part, make it likely that Alvarado will return to a high-profile bout in his next fight. He could face a third fight against Rios, a rematch against Provodnikov or, perhaps, a matchup with Manny Pacquiao.
Provodnikov?s March fight against Tim Bradley slightly out-drew Saturday?s fight, with 1.232 million viewers. The Alvarado-Rios and Bradley-Provodnikov fights remain on the shortlist of ?Fight of the Year? candidates.
Miguel Cotto?s victory over Delvin Rodriguez earlier this month drew 1.55 million viewers, making it the highest-rated cable broadcast of boxing this year, not including pay-per-view fights. Floyd Mayweather?s decision over Canelo Alvarez in September drew more than 2 million viewers in the U.S. and more than 22 million in Mexico on ?over the air? broadcast network Televisa.
