Great news for boxing. 3.4 million viewers, the most watched boxing broadcast since 1998. And most importantly, it beat out the recent UFC shows on FOX.

This past weekend, the big player in the combat sports world was Premier Boxing Champions, the Al Haymon enterprise that brought boxing back to network television. PBC aired their debut show Saturday night live on NBC, and the overnight ratings speak well for the company's future.

Premier Boxing Champions pulled in 3.4 million viewers on the night, making it the most watched boxing broadcast since 1998. They also did a 1.08 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic, making NBC #1 amongst the big 4 networks in this group.

The show was headlined by Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero in a dramatic fight, and also featured Adrien Broner vs. John Molina, Jr. in a snoozer.

One other statistic worth noting: the show saw a steady rise throughout the broadcast, with an increase every half hour, culminating in a 4.2 peak for the last half of the main event.

The big question for MMA fans - how do these numbers stack up to the UFC on Fox?

The most recent UFC on Fox show, UFC on Fox 14 headlined by Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Johnson, pulled in 2.82 million viewers, a definite notch below the PBC show. That was the high mark for the UFC in some time. UFC on Fox 13: Dos Santos vs. Miocic saw a significantly lower 2.27 million viewers, which was consistent with their most recent shows.

The highest rated UFC on Fox show remains the first ever event (Velasquez vs. Dos Santos I) which drew 5.7 million viewers back in 2011. Overall, only 4 of the 14 UFC on Fox events have beaten this PBC show in terms of viewers - none more recent than UFC on Fox 6: Johnson vs. Dodson in January 2013 (3.77 million).