Joseph Parker has proven to be more popular than his British rival Anthony Joshua in the fight for the United States television audience.
Both men fought at the weekend, with Parker beating Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr for the WBO world heavyweight title in Auckland and Joshua successfully retaining his IBF belt in Manchester.
Parker's 12-round fight was shown in the US on delay via HBO. Joshua's comfortable knockout victory over American Eric Molina was shown on Showtime, and the Kiwi took the victory, his fight averaging 521,000 viewers, peaking at 585,000, compared with an average of 368,000 and a peak of 390,000 for Joshua, according to Nielsen Media Research.
It represents a win not only for Parker but also his promoters' alliance with Bob Arum's Top Rank. Arum looked after the US television deal, and will continue to do so for Parker.
Duco Events are happy with the pay per view response in New Zealand for a fight and undercard priced at $59.95. Those ratings will continue to be confidential but it is understood it didn't beat the approximate 85,000 views for the David Tua v Shane Cameron fight.
