:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/15849103/20130629_lbm_ac9_521.0.jpg)
Just three fights ago when Gennady Golovkin made his HBO debut, serious fan elation after his demolition job on Grzegorz Proksa had to be tempered just a bit when it came back that a mere 658,000 viewers had tuned in to see the two relative unknowns do battle on Boxing After Dark.
His January fight with Gabriel Rosado, an undercard bout on the Salido-Garcia show, did about 813,000 viewers, a significant improvement, but it was also to say that more eyes were there due to the main event, rather than Golovkin.
That's not the case now, though. Headlining a tripleheader that boasted no really notable star fighters and had two undercard bouts with four guys making their HBO debuts without much fanfare, Golovkin and Matthew Macklin brought in 1.1 million viewers, putting Gennady on par with most of the name entities in the sport.
In other words, it appears that his star is rapidly shining brighter, and that sooner than later -- if not already -- no promoters will be able to complain that, "Hey, he's a great fighter, but nobody knows who he is." Clearly, Golovkin is becoming a fighter people are tuning in to see, and with the way he performs, those new viewers will be back.