Wlad-Leapai does 9 million viewers in Germany

it was on british eurosport. the home of nohopers and he occasional upcomer.

 

Highly successful numbers considering the opponent. Pianeta and Thompson II were between 8,2 and 8,5 mil, both fights were considered success. For example, Wladimir vs. Povetkin generated over 11 mil, while Haye went over 15,5, so he sold this fight very well considering that Leapai was far from these guys in terms of quality, plus the arena was sold out fairly quickly.

 

but but Wlad is boring and nobody cares about him!

 

It's easy to forget how huge the Haye fight was at the time, especially with the anti-climatic performances on the night. Haye is a draw as big as Wlad and knows how to sell a fight.

The Povetkin fight really only became a big deal because of the insane purse bid which was way above the actual value of the fight. Prior to that it was just another mandatory with an opponent many expected to be KO'ed without too much difficulty. But with the record purse bid it suddenly made it a big fight for Wlad. Povetkin's reputation probably improved after the Wlad fight simply because he survived when many expected him to be stopped.

 

That's why PPV here in the states is so dam overrated !

 

It's not just because of the purse bid. Povetkin was previously viewed as a top prospect for years. He was originally the IBF mandatory few years prior to the fight, and his management backed out, so they had history. Povetkin himself was doing fine numbers in Germany so he was quite a draw.

I was also surprised that it did "only" 11 mil compared to Haye's 15, but it was still a very huge number. David Haye was insanely hyped by the British media, so that was likely the deciding factor. Of course he still wasn't a comparable draw to Wladimir, he was more like Povetkin in Germany in terms of popularity, but it was still enough to pull 15+ mil.

For the comparison, Povetkin's biggest numbers as an "A side" came against Marco Huck - 6,3 mil. David Haye as an "A side" done the highest against Harrison 4,2 mil. However, Haye had another big fight where he was a "B side" which was against Valuev (who was bigger than both Povetkin and Haye in Germany). Valuev vs Haye did 7,34 mil, which still wasn't Valuev's biggest rating. Valuev generated the biggest numbers against Ruiz, over 7,5 mil.

 

Povetkin was a good contender but many were highly critical of his slow progress, his deferring of his mandatory shot which suggested he wasn't confident of victory. His poor performance against Huck suggested to many pundits he really stood no chance which is why there were bookies offering 16/1 betting odds.

When I say Haye is the bigger draw I'm talking about financial terms. Haye made more money against Harrison than Povetkin did against Wlad. K2 made the biggest realistic purse bid of $7.1 million which means Povetkin's true value would have been almost $1.8 million which is a more accurate reflective of his drawing power.

 

I remember reading that the fight had another 19 million viewers in Russia.

 

100% Not true!
Povetkin was and is a very, very well known name. His fights have been aired on ARD for many years and he's become a household name. His fights do about 4-6 million viewers every time. The fight against Huck did 7.31 mio.
Also Povetkin was recognized and called the regular WBA champ on german television.

 

regular champ aha. so not a champ atall then.

still povetkin was not bad at all. a fair opponent.

 

Not to compare Wlad to Ottke(cause Wlad is not joke, Ottke is) but Ottke was really huge there even with his fixing fights...:tired

 

I wonder what the ESPN numbers were