Amir Khan and Chris Algieri proved to be a ratings draw for PBC on SpikeTV. The entire telecast did 772,000 viewers. However when it came to the main event, Khan-Algieri averaged 1 million viewers with the peak of the bout coming at 1.12 million viewers for the Friday night telecast.
Not too shabby for a Friday night right?
Well, when you put it into context with other Friday boxing telecasts it surpassed expectations. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was the most watched boxing telecast on cable in 8 years. That should bode well for Amir Khan.
Khan has been campaigning for a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight for over two years now. He has missed out on the opportunity because he either lost a big fight (Danny Garcia in 2013), didn’t fight to end the year, (in 2014) or had religious obligations.
This year his religious obligation Ramadan comes earlier and should not conflict with training for a likely September date with Mayweather. Khan told the media on Friday night at the Barclays Center that he was good to go for September and a fight with Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather Jr. has said that his final fight will come in September. After his decision over Manny Pacquiao, there may not be much to prove, and not many opponents left. In terms of the welterweight division, there are names like Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter but in terms of finances they don’t bring the international appeal of an Amir Khan.
Khan was not overly impressive and was in a fight with Chris Algieri, leading many to question his deservingness of the fight. But that may not matter when it comes to dollars and now ratings. While Khan may not be the live gate draw that he thinks he is in the United States, he is on the television.
