Tyson-Mathis Fight Wasn’t Much, but It Drew a High Rating for Fox

NEW YORK —  Fox and HBO on Tuesday reported huge viewing audiences for weekend fights, pointing toward a ratings rebound for boxing on both free and premium cable television.

Fox’s telecast of Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr. Saturday night from Philadelphia drew a national Nielsen rating of 16.1 with a 28 share, giving Fox its highest-rated evening of programming ever.

Fox said its research showed that more than 43 million people viewed all or part of the telecast, which also included Terry Norris vs. Paul Vaden.

At the same time, HBO reported a cable rating of 14.6 with a 23 share Friday night for its telecast of the Oscar De La Hoya-Jesse Leija fight at Madison Square Garden.

Each ratings point represents 1% of the network’s total potential universe, which in the case of HBO is 22 million homes and in the case of Fox is about 96 million. Share figures represent the percentage of TV’s in actual use.