Andy Ruiz Jr. will give TNT Sports its first test with a recognizable heavyweight name when he faces Damian Knyba on September 4 in Newark, New Jersey.
The early editions of The Fight have already shown that boxing can attract a respectable Saturday night audience without a mainstream star. William Zepeda’s August 1 victory over Lamont Roach Jr. averaged 748,000 viewers, while the championship portion of the telecast peaked at 786,000.
Abraham Gonzalez of FightsATW obtained the figures directly from TNT Sports after no ratings were publicly released for the August 1 event. The final two hours averaged 694,000 viewers, 2% higher than the inaugural July 4 show.
Ruiz now gives TNT a different kind of headliner.
The former unified heavyweight champion remains known for his stunning 2019 knockout of Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden. He lost the immediate rematch six months later and has fought only four times since.
That inactivity makes it difficult to know how much drawing power Ruiz still possesses, but his profile is considerably higher than what TNT featured in its previous main events.
Knyba isn’t a major attraction, so the audience will largely be tuning in for Ruiz. That makes the September 4 card a useful indication of how much a recognizable former heavyweight champion can increase the numbers The Fight has produced so far.
Zepeda-Roach has given TNT a benchmark of 748,000 viewers for a championship main event. Pushing significantly beyond that figure would show that the series can increase its viewership when a better-known fighter tops the bill.
Ruiz also has plenty to gain. A sharp performance in Newark would put him back in heavyweight contention after years of inactivity, while impressive television numbers would show that fans remain interested in watching him fight.