Bradley-Vargas Ratings Cap Strong First Half For HBO

By Jake Donovan

HBO Boxing ended the first half of 2015 on a high note, with Timothy Bradley Jr. earning a unanimous decision in a strong performance—despite a chaotic ending—versus previously unbeaten Jessie Vargas. The June 27 doubleheader at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.—whose live ring action began and ended with controversy—played well on the screen and with fans as home.

The main event drew 1.121 million viewers, peaking at 1.228 million viewers. Both numbers surpass Bradley’s last HBO-televised appearance, when he was held to a 12-round draw versus Diego Chaves last December.

Unlike that fight, Bradley managed to overcome controversy to score his first win in nearly two years. Whereas many observers felt Bradley deserved the nod over Chaves, his dominance versus Vargas was well represented in the scorecards. 

Getting to the scorecards, however, proved to be far more interesting. 

Bradley was in control for most of the night, but was rocked by a right hand with roughly 20 seconds to go in the bout. Vargas sought to move in for the kill but unable to properly follow up, as Bradley wisely clinched just as the 10-second clapper sounded. Referee Pat Russell somehow mistook the clap for the final bell jumping in between the fighters to wave his arms and signal the end of the fight. 

Confusion and chaos quickly ensued, with Vargas mounting a corner post celebrating what he believed to be a bailout knockout win. Bradley was left dumbfounded, prompting his team to immediately inform the former two-division champ exactly what had happened.  

If nothing else, it made for an interesting ending, though unfortunately one that warrants a protest. The general belief is that Vargas likely wouldn’t have closed the show. Because he was denied those final 10 seconds, his team now has the necessary grounds to file an appeal. While it’s highly doubtful the final outcome will get overturned, there exists the possibility of an ordered rematch. 

Opening the telecast, unbeaten featherweight Oscar Valdez—a two-time Olympian for Mexico—overcome a blown-call in the form of a 1st round knockdown to otherwise shut out countryman Ruben Tamayo over 10 rounds. 

The knockdown came as the result of Valdez tripping over Tamayo’s foot, a point he made while referee Ray Corona continued his mandatory eight count. Its only bearing on the fight was denying Valdez a clean sweep, winning rounds 2-10 on all three scorecards.

The bout marked the network debut for both fighters, and also the 1,000th fight to air on HBO since entering the boxing fray in 1973. A montage of clips from some of the previous 999 HBO-televised fights aired at the start of the telecast. 

As for fight number 1,000—Valdez’ network debut came in front of 826,000 home viewers, peaking at 916,000 viewers.

Nielsen Media Research.