Tyson Fury’s upset of Wladimir Klitschko to win the world heavyweight title "delivered for HBO, which televised the fight Saturday afternoon from Dusseldorf, Germany," according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. The boxing match averaged 1.038 million viewers for the live airing, "a figure good enough to be HBO’s 10th-most viewed fight of the year, meaning it had a larger audience than several of HBO’s fights in prime time." It also "far exceeded Klitschko’s previous live afternoon fight" 13 months ago on HBO, when the net averaged 620,000 viewers for his title defense against Kubrat Pulev. Combined with HBO’s primetime replay, Fury-Klitschko averaged 1.714 million viewers. HBO said that the net "has interest" in airing the Fury-Klitschko rematch, which is "expected to happen as soon as April but not later than June" (ESPN.com, 12/2).
THE FIGHTER: In L.A., Lance Pugmire writes HBO Sports Exec VP Peter Nelson, who was recently promoted to lead the department, "brings dogged energy, hope and enthusiasm to a position that has broken others." Nelson said, "I look at it in the broader sense in terms of the type of competition our fans want to see -- top-flight talent in positions where that virtuosity is challenged." Pugmire notes HBO's boxing viewership has increased 10% this year over '14, "banking on champions" like Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev. Nelson said that he wants to "maximize the 'storytelling' potential of fighters his established network has shown it’s capable of producing." Part of his mission "will be to seek out the best fights." Among his challenges "will be helping to coordinate a good Manny Pacquiao fight in the spring, the possibility of a Golovkin-Alvarez battle and Kovalev dates with Adonis Stevenson and Andre Ward" (L.A. TIMES, 12/3).
