World lightweight champion Katie Taylor’s successful defense against Miriam Gutierrez last Saturday drew more than 2 million views across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sky Sports aired a triple-header of women's title fights, featuring Terri Harper and Rachel Ball, available to all, customers and non-subscribers alike, via multiple digital platforms including its YouTube channel, Facebook page and website. The fight generated more than 1.5 million views on Facebook, 550k on Sky Sports’ YouTube live stream and across Sky Sports’ website and apps there were 227k views, with over 600k viewers on Sky Sports TV platform, making it a bumper night for new audiences.

 

As part of Sky Sports’ commitment to women’s sport – first announced back in March – the move came with the aim of ensuring elite women’s sport is more widely available to the public through both increasing its existing coverage and by strengthening its digital output. Irish star Taylor completely outclassed Gutierrez, dropping the tough Spaniard in the fourth round on route to a unanimous decision that improved her unbeaten record to 17-0.

 

Earlier in the night, WBC and IBO super featherweight ruler Harper stopped Norway’s Katharina Thanderz in nine rounds to retain her belts and Ball picked up the WBC interim belt at 122 pounds by outpointing Argentina’s Jorgelina Guanini.

 

Matchroom Sport Managing Director Eddie Hearn said: “What a night and what a monumental moment on Saturday. This huge audience got to see a great night of boxing and a performance of pound-for-pound quality. We have made tremendous strides in women’s boxing but the job is still only half done. Together with these great athletes we will continue to push the boundaries.”

 

Adam Smith, Sky Sports’  Head of Boxing Development, said: “We’re thrilled with the fantastic viewing figures, on all platforms, for a truly momentous evening of women’s title fights, topped by Katie Taylor’s masterful performance.

 

“Rachel Ball produced a fantastic win, the launch pad for her to pursue World Titles, while Terri Harper was composed and clinical in her defence of the WBC Super-Featherweight belt. It was then Katie Taylor’s time to produce a punch perfect display. Simply dazzling.

 

“Katie is an unbelievable ambassador for the sport and we decided to stream  her historic fight night for free, a sign of our long-term commitment to women’s sport with Matchroom. We’ve started something special as we continue to showcase the best talent in women’s boxing on Sky Sports.”