By Allan Fox: The November 15th fight between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53 KOs) and #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev (20-1, 11 KOs) reportedly was seen by 10.5 million boxing fans on German television, says Dan Rafael of ESPN.
That’s an incredible amount of fans to watch a sporting event. When you compare it to the amount of fans that typically watch one of Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao’s fights in the U.S, it’s way above the numbers those guys bring in.
Of course, boxing fans have to pay to see Pacquiao and Mayweather fight in the U.S and that obviously limits the amount of fans who are willing to see their fights.
“German TV audience was about 10.5 million for Wladimir Klitschko’s title defense vs Kubrat Pulev, & you wonder why he fights there? #boxing,” Rafael said on his twitter.
Wladimir recently signed a 3-fight contract with HBO. His other two fights will likely see him fight Bryant Jennings in early 2015, and then the winner of the Bermane Stiverne vs. Deontay Wilder clash for the WBC heavyweight title.
Wladimir stopped Pulev in the 5th round after knocking him down three times in the fight with left hooks. Pulev fought well at times, but he didn’t have the defense or the chin to stand up to Wladimir’s hard left hooks. Pulev normally is known as a fighter with a near impregnable defense. However, in this case he made the mistake of fighting with his left hand down by his sides, and this enabled Wladimir to nail him repeatedly with left hooks to the head.
“Make no mistake, if Wladimir Klitschko indeed comes to NYC for his next fight in April he will be leaving money on the table,” Rafael said. “But Wladimir Klitschko also wants to fight in NY again and he is OK with leaving $ on the table within reason.”
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