With a peak audience of 2.5m tuning in, ‘Haye Day II’ formed part of Dave’s biggest day in its history.
The Hayemaker continued on his pursuit of regaining the World Heavyweight crown by destroying Gjergjaj in front of a sell-out 16,000 crowd at The O2 Arena on the Haye Day II extravaganza – his 15th win inside two rounds.
Once again partnering with UKTV to offer the Haye Day II event on free-to-view to the British public proved to be a massive hit. At its peak Haye Day II drew in a 14.8% adult audience share, greater than both ITV and C4 and second only to BBC1 at that time.
The exceptional viewing figures were reflected on social media, with the public not just watching Haye Day but talking about it also. #HayeDay overtook the #FACupFinal to become the top UK trend on Twitter and Facebook.
A delighted Haye said: “After the record breaking success of January’s show, Dave was the natural destination for Haye Day II. Haye Day is more than a boxing show, it provides a night of entertainment appealing to the masses. You only have to look ringside to see it is a different crowd. On Saturday Hollywood stars sat ringside including; Paul Anderson (The Revenant), Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) and Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes). Even Jose Mourinho couldn’t miss the show when the world’s media were desperate to speak to him.”
He added: “The numbers prove there is huge demand for boxing in the UK. Of those who tuned into Haye day on Saturday night, I hope those who are new to the sport continue to be engaged either by participating or continuing to tune into the big fights.”
Richard Watsham Director of Commissioning at UKTV also responded to the figures, he said: “January’s Haye Day was a huge success for the channel so we were delighted to get to work with Hayemaker Promotions once again. Saturday’s broadcast stepped up from January’s in every way, the show was longer, featuring not one but two former World Heavyweight Champions and a real grudge match of an English title fight. We are delighted to achieve such fantastic figures, with Haye Day contributing to Dave’s best day ever.”
‘Haye Day’, Haye’s innovative and ground-breaking idea to deliver live entertainment with top quality boxing to a wider audience, saw the capacity crowd at The O2 on their feet dancing to the all-star entertainment line-up in between the bouts that featured KISS FM DJs Rickie and Melvin, plus live acts Lethal Bizzle, Fatman Scoop and Laura Wright bringing the crowd to their feet for the National Anthem.
Former two-weight world champion Haye is now targeting a second world title in the heavyweight division and next in line on his way to achieving that goal the WBA no. 7 world ranked, Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Briggs.
Briggs featured on the undercard of Haye-Gjergjaj and recorded his seventh first round KO win in nine fights since his World title points loss to Vitali Klitschko to keep on track for his showdown against Haye.
The former world heavyweight champion stormed Haye’s press conference last month shouting out his fight slogan “Lets Go Champ” in a bid to lure the British star into a fight. Haye promised Briggs would get his wish if he won on the undercard which the American did and now the pair will clash, potentially in September, in a fight the public have demanded.
