Erislandy Lara's return to Showtime didn't produce the same viewership and ratings as his "Fight of the Year" contender against Jarrett Hurd.
According to Showbuzz Daily, Lara's main event bout against Brian Castano for the WBA "Regular" junior middleweight title on March 2 averaged 487,000 viewers and drew a 0.10 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Lara and Castano fought to a split draw, which meant Castano retained his secondary world title.
The viewership numbers and ratings are slightly down from Lara's previous fight against Hurd, which took place in April 2018. That fight, which saw Hurd win by split decision to unify the WBA and IBF junior middleweight titles, averaged 490,000 viewers and drew a 0.17 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The co-main event of the televised portion of the card, which took place at the Barclays Center, featured a heavyweight bout between former title challenger Luis Ortiz and Christian Hammer. Ortiz won the fight by unanimous decision and that fight averaged 427,000 viewers and drew a 0.08 rating in the 18-49 demo.
The opening bout saw Eduardo Ramirez stop Bryan De Gracia in the ninth round to win the WBA Gold featherweight title and that fight averaged 317,000 and also drew a 0.08 rating.
Showtime's next boxing card featuring a world title fight is currently scheduled for April 13 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the main event, Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer will fight for the undisputed WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF Female middleweight title.
