Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr.’s sixth-round knockout of Leonard Bundu delivered over 6 million viewers during his Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC fight this Sunday, according to Nielsen.
Following the broadcast of the 2016 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team’s gold medal-winning performance, Spence Jr.’s fight posted a peak audience of 6.34 million viewers and averaged 4.8 million viewers for the entire hour. This fight is the highest-rated PBC fight to-date.
Spence-Bundu drew the largest television audience for boxing in 18 years (August 21, 2016 vs. March 23, 1998).
“I knew this would be the most important fight of my career and the goal was to not just win, but to put on a spectacular one-sided performance,” said Spence Jr. “It felt good to go out there and give everyone watching a great show and to do it in front of such a large television audience makes it even better. Thanks to everyone who tuned in and I promise you’ll be seeing more of me soon. My time is now and this is just the beginning.”
The Dallas boxer’s sixth-round knockout victory over Bundu ensures that he will fight for the world title currently held by British welterweight Kell Brook.
With his power, pinpoint accuracy and desire to close the show, Spence Jr. is squarely in the mix as a top welterweight in the most talent-laden division in boxing. As a young, hungry contender circling champions like Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Brook, Spence’s presence adds to the tantalizing possibility of super fights in the welterweight division harkening to the days of Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran.
