By Keith Idec

The second installment of “SuperFly” drew lower ratings than HBO’s first telecast, but produced similar ratings to the premium cable network’s first boxing offering of 2018.

According to ratings released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research, HBO’s main event Saturday night between Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Juan Francisco Estrada drew a peak audience of 753,000. Sor Rungvisai-Estrada averaged 639,000 viewers.

Thailand’s Sor Rungvisai (45-4-1, 40 KOs) defeated Mexico’s Estrada (36-3, 25 KOs) by majority decision to retain the WBC super flyweight title he won from Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez last year.

Sor Rungvisai won on the scorecards of judges Cathy Leonard (115-113) and Steve Morrow (117-111). Judge Dave Moretti scored their 12-rounder even (114-114) at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

The main event of HBO’s first “SuperFly” card, Sor Rungvisai’s fourth-round knockout of Gonzalez in their rematch September 9 in Carson, California, was watched by a peak audience of 835,000 viewers and an average audience of 796,000. That tripleheader benefited from the allure of the second bout between Sor Rungvisai and Nicaragua’s Gonzalez (46-2, 38 KOs), who was widely recognized as boxing’s pound-for-pound king before Sor Rungvisai scored a controversial majority-decision victory over him March 18 at Madison Square Garden.

Ratings for this “SuperFly 2” telecast were comparable to HBO’s first boxing broadcast this year. The main event of that “Boxing After Dark” doubleheader, Argentine welterweight Lucas Matthysse’s eighth-round knockout of Thailand’s Tewa Kiram, attracted a peak audience of 769,000 and averaged 719,000 viewers.

Viewership for the co-feature Saturday night, McWilliams Arroyo’s upset of Carlos Cuadras, peaked at 598,000. An average of 548,000 viewers watched that 12-round, 115-pound bout, which Puerto Rico’s Arroyo (17-3, 14 KOs) won by majority decision over Mexico’s Cuadras (36-3-1, 27 KOs).

Two judges – Tony Crebs (97-93) and Pat Russell (98-92) – scored their back-and-forth fight for Arroyo. Judge Fernando Villarreal scored their encounter even (95-95).

The opener of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” tripleheader Saturday night, Donnie Nietes’ seventh-round technical knockout of Juan Carlos Reveco, drew a peak viewership of 533,000 and an average audience of 432,000.

The Philippines’ Nietes (41-1-4, 23 KOs) made his first defense of the IBF 112-pound championship by stopping Argentina’s Reveco (39-3, 19 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.