This past Saturday night's rematch between Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, won by Alvarado, scored 1.2 million viewers on HBO. That number is in line with recent HBO ratings.
Rios and Alvarado surely pleased those who tuned in and the 5,400 or so that were in the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, as their rematch is an early serious contender for 2013 Fight of the Year, the second straight HBO main event to be able to make that claim, following the March 16 Bradley-Provodnikov war, which also drew 1.2 million viewers.
HBO has started the year with solid numbers and some terrific fights, while Showtime has been slow out of the gates, largely due to postponements of their scheduled main events, such as Garcia-Judah and Alexander-Brook, which was scrapped two times and is now rescheduled for May 18. Garcia-Judah is up on April 27.
HBO's next live broadcast will come on April 13, when Nonito Donaire faces Guillermo Rigondeaux in New York.