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Vitali Klitschko’s dominating defense of his WBC heavyweight title over No. 1 ranked challenger Cristobal Arreola on Sept. 26 on HBO drew the highest rating of 2009 for an HBO World Championship Boxing telecast.
Klitschko vs. Arreola scored higher ratings than Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley’s welterweight world title fight and the Juan Diaz vs. Juan Manuel Marquez bout for the linear lightweight championship.
“We are happy to have brought this fight to the US, where Vitali received the highest rating of the year for HBO World Championship Boxing,” said Tom Loeffler, Managing Director, K2 Promotions.
“This shows that the boxing fans were craving a great heavyweight matchup and eagerly awaiting Vitali’s return to HBO.”
HBO viewers had waited nearly five years to see Klitschko return to the premium network and responded in numbers.
Klitschko’s last fight on HBO World Championship Boxing was a second round TKO over Kirk Johnson in December 2003.
His last fight on HBO PPV was an eighth round TKO victory over Danny Williams in December, 2004, his final fight before a four year retirement due to injury.
The Klitschko vs. Arreola fight, which was shown in more than 100 countries worldwide, also dominated the international market.
“Vitali’s fight was also shown live in Germany and received a 52 percent share of the market, the highest rated program at that time slot,” said Bernd Boente, Managing Director, KMG.
The title defense was Klitschko’s second successful victory over a No. 1 contender since winning the WBC title from champion emeritus Samuel Peter in October, 2008.
Klitschko followed up the Peter victory with a ninth-round TKO of No. 1 challenger Juan Carlos Gomez before he scored a 10th round TKO over No. 1 contender Arreola on Saturday.
