Adam Kownacki dominant in decision win Saturday night

Unbeaten heavyweight Contender Adam Kownacki didn’t deliver an early knockout Saturday night, but none the less, he was impressive over 12 rounds defeating a tough nosed veteran, Chris Arreola. And, Kownacki piled up enough of those rounds and points for a unanimous 12-round decision in the PBC main event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Kownacki was forced to go the distance, because of the heart of the 38 year old veteran Arreola, who took great punishment throughout the fight.

This one didn’t look like it would last long, as Kownacki bombed away with big right hands at Arreola early on in rounds one and two. However, to the veteran’s credit, he shook off the big punches and actually landed some clean shots of his own- primarily his counter left, which was his most effective punch early on in the fight.

Check out some of the two fighters trading late in the third round:

Bombs away! #KownackiArreola pic.twitter.com/xKI2j5dB3I

— PBC (@premierboxing) August 4, 2019

Several times as the rounds wore on, Kownacki (20-0 15 KOs) scored with an uppercut inside that would rock Arreola, but every time he was successful in shaking it off and/or tying up Kownacki to survive the round.

Areola seemed to injure his left hand in the fifth round and was shown on the Fox TV cameras clutching the hand with a pained expression on his face at the end of that round. Fox microphones also picked up Arreola (38-6-1) telling his new trainer Joe Goosen a couple of times between rounds that the hand was injured.

Arreola still fought on and actually, used the left jab and the left hook some more, as the fight continued.

In the end, Kownacki was too good and too busy and pilled up round after round making the job for the three judges sitting ringside easy. One scored the fight 118 – 110 and the other two had it  117 – 111 to keep Kownacki unbeaten.

Coming into Saturday night, Kownacki was the heaviest he’s ever been in his career at 266 pounds. And, there were questions as to whether or not his conditioning would hold up against the Californian, who has fought for a portion of the Heavyweight Title on three previous occasions?

But, Kownacki answered those questions and then some, still looking good in the 11th and 12th rounds. And, while not being able to knock Arreola out, he still was in complete control of the fight. Kownacki and Arreola both threw over 1,000 punches in the 12 rounder, but Kownacki outlanded his opponent 369-288 according to Compubox in this one.

The win also keeps his name relevant for a potential title shot down the road against WBC heavyweight champion,  Deontay Wilder.

Wilder was not only in attendance, but on the play-by-play call on Fox with Kenny Albert and Lennox Lewis. Wilder was asked during the fight about fighting Kownacki and told the television audience he would welcome the chance to fight him down the road. Wilder will first rematch Cuban contender Luis Ortiz later this year.

Several thousand Polish fans came to back Kownacki in the Barclays Center, as he was headlining a national television event in New York for the first time in his career. Kownacki’s parents came to the United States, when he was seven years old and he’s lived in the New York area the entire time.

It would definitely seem logical that, if Wilder defeats Ortiz later this year in their rematch, he and Kownacki would fight in New York in a battle at some point in 2020.