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ESPN’s live telecast of the of the Bermane Stiverne-Chris Arreola rematch for the vacant WBC heavyweight title on Saturday was the the highest-rated fight on any ESPN network since 2003, the cable sports giant announced on Monday.

Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) and Arreola (36-4, 31 KOs) delivered a 0.8 overnight rating according to Nielsen, the ESPN press release stated. The anticipated rematch, which took place at the Galen Center on USC's campus in Los Angeles, was ESPN's the highest-rated fight since Monte Barrett's 10th-round stoppage of Eric Kirkland delivered a 1.3 overnight rating on Oct. 3, 2003 (on ESPN2).

Stiverne stopped Arreola in the sixth round of their entertaining fight, making him the first boxer of Haitian descent to win a major heavyweight title.

Saturday’s fight is also tied for the third-highest-rated fight overall on any ESPN network (based on overnights, records date back to 2001).

Metered Markets:

· The top 5 local markets for this fight were as follows:

1) New Orleans, 4.1 metered market rating

2) San Antonio, 2.2 metered market rating

3) San Diego, 1.5 metered market rating

4) Providence, 1.5 metered market rating

5) Fort Myers, 1.3 metered market rating

· With a 4.1 metered market rating, New Orleans saw its highest local market rating for boxing on any ESPN network (records date back to 2001).

· With a 2.2 metered market rating, San Antonio saw its highest local market rating for boxing on any ESPN Network (records date back to 2001).

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Video by Daniel Morales / photo gallery by Naoki Fukuda