Chris Colbert saw a significant increase in viewership from his previous televised ring appearance.

The unbeaten WBA interim junior lightweight titlist picked his most notable win to date, a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory over Mongolia’s Tugstsogt Nyambayar (12-2, 9KOs). An average of 261,000 viewers tuned in for the July 3 Showtime main event, according to Nielsen Media Research. The bout peaked at 288,000 viewers, occurring during the 11:30-11:45 p.m. ET block close to the start of the contest which aired live from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Colbert (16-0, 6KOs) won the bout by scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 117-111 to retain his title for the second time. Nyambayar—a 2012 Olympic Silver medalist and former featherweight title challenger—accepted the assignment on less than two weeks' notice, moving up in weight to replace an injured Yuriorkis Gamboa.

The Showtime Championship Boxing telecast consisted of three total bouts—two live fights, along with an exclusive rebroadcast of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ eleventh-round knockout of unbeaten Mario Barrios atop the June 26 Showtime Pay-Per-View event. The entire telecast—which aired from 9:00 pm.-12:32 a.m. ET—averaged 202,000 viewers.

The average and peak viewership figures for Saturday’s main event both as the third-best for a Showtime main event since the pandemic. The current network-best during that period occurred two weeks prior, when WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo earned a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory over Juan Macias Montiel in a June 19 Showtime main event that averaged 333,000 viewers and a peak audience of 379,000.

Earlier in the year, former four-division titlist Adrien Broner claimed a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory over Jovanie Santiago in a February 20 main event that averaged 288,000 viewers and a peak audience of 304,000.

Colbert saw viewership improve nearly 34% from his previous network appearance, an eleventh-round stoppage of Jaime Arboleda that averaged 195,000 viewers as the main event of the December 12 Showtime card.

The other bout to air live on the July 3 telecast saw Michel Rivera (21-0, 14KOs) climb off the canvas to score a highlight-reel, eighth-round knockout of Spain’s Jon Fernandez (21-2, 18KOs). Their entertaining WBA lightweight title eliminator averaged 245,000 viewers, with a peak of 258,000 occurring at the time of Rivera’s sensational knockout sequence, a right hand to put Fernandez down and out for the night.

The exclusive rebroadcast of Davis-Barrios opened the telecast, averaging 166,000 viewers. The taped replay peaked at 241,000 viewers, coming just past the 10:00 pm. ET hour when Davis forced the stoppage to win a secondary WBA junior welterweight title.   

Figures for the above specified bouts and telecasts include only viewers that watched those fights live on Showtime’s linear channel. ViacomCBS, the parent company of Showtime and krikya360.com doesn’t release streaming numbers.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox