Netflix says the Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez fight drew 41.4 million viewers over the weekend, per estimated data from VideoAmp, which would make it the most viewed men's championship boxing championship this century.
The estimated average minute audience (AMA) for the main event was 36.6 million live-plus-same-day viewers.
While those are big numbers, if accurate, it would pale in comparison to the 65 million concurrent streams Netflix claimed it reached during Jake Paul's fight against Mike Tyson last November, or the estimate of 108 million total viewers (though one of the more memorable aspects of that evening was the streamer's issues with buffering and resolution).
As for Saturday's bout, Crawford defeated Alvarez by unanimous decision (115-113, 115-113, 116-112), claiming the super middleweight championship in the process.
He is now a perfect 42-0 in his career, while Alvarez dropped to 63-3-2, losing for the first time since Dmitry Bivol defeated him in May 2022. Crawford has now claimed titles in five different weight classes throughout his career.
"I told y'all I'm not here just by a coincidence. God blessed me," Crawford told reporters after the victory. "He made this event, and he made this night just for me. And I've been telling y'all that. It's not my fault. It's God's."
It was a legacy-solidifying fight for Crawford, who can make a very strong claim for being one of the greatest boxers in the sport's history. Whether he'll continue to fight remains to be seen, though Crawford kept that possibility open.
"I don't know," he told reporters when asked if he fought in his final bout. "I have to sit down with my team, and we're gonna talk about it."
Given the numbers he and Alvarez reportedly pulled on Saturday, boxing promoters and broadcasters would surely love to see him continue on.
- Timothy Rapp
No comments:
Post a Comment