Over the weekend, boxing’s heavyweight division took another turn when Brooklyn’s Adam Kownacki took a fourth-round “L” to Robert Helenius.
Robert Who?
That’s what all the “Babyface” Polish fans from Greenpoint, Brooklyn said when their man caught the fade at home.
“It wasn’t my night,” said Kownacki. “It’s boxing. It’s a tough sport and things just didn’t go my way tonight. It was a learning experience and I’m going to go back to the drawing board and get back to work.”
Kownacki Loses The Big Bag
What makes the upset even worse is Kownacki was previously unbeaten and the fight was a WBA title eliminator. The current WBA champion is none other than U.K. superstar Anthony Joshua.
“Kownacki just kept coming and coming. He’s a good fighter I have to give it to him. My strength is to punch back when people come at me. It was a good fight and a tremendous opportunity for me to be here.”
Kownacki was fighting for the 10th time at Barclays Center. However, was unable to keep the taller Helenius off of him. After being hurt early in the fourth, a clean Helenius right hook hurt Kownacki. Finally, a left hook put Kownacki down.
“I knew that I hit him hard and I knew I just had to continue,” said Helenius. “I knew he was still hurt after that punch.”
Kownacki outpaced Helenius landing 84 punches to 49 according to CompuBox, it was Helenius’ 12 power punches landed in round four that made the difference. Helenius kept up the relentless attack, consistently hurting Kownacki and pushing him around the ring until referee David Fields waved off the fight 1:08 into the round.
“He hit me with a good shot,” said Kownacki. “I knew what was going on, but I’m just upset with myself. It is what it is.”
