Adam Kownacki Earns Unanimous Decision Win Over Chris Arreola Before his Hometown Crowd in Brooklyn:

By Daniel Gonzalez

Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn’s Adam “Baby Face” Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs), and veteran heavyweight Chris “Nightmare” Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs, 2 NC) broke the record for both punches thrown (2,172) and punches landed (667) in a heavyweight slugfest Saturday night at Barclays Center. Kownacki earned the unanimous decision in his first ever twelve round fight and satisfied the pro Polish home crowd of 8,790. The judges scored the bout 118-110 (Don Trella), and 117-111 two times (Lou Moret and Kevin Morgan).

The two warriors put on a tremendous show in the main event of the Fox broadcast that also featured exciting matchups between Curtis Stevens and Wale Omotoso, as well as Marcus Browne and Jean Pascal. The 38 year old Riverside, California native Arreola indicated prior to the fight that if lost he would retire, but after this very entertaining performance and showing, he may reconsider. He responded to Heidi Androl in the post fight interview when asked whether he would be retiring by stating, “You know what? It’s a big decision. I’ll have to talk to my family, advisor Al [Haymon], and trainer Joe [Goossen]. But I feel like it’s about time. And I gave it my all this fight. I really let it all hang out.”

Arreola, who previously fought in three heavyweight title fights against Vitali Klitschko, Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne fought through what appeared to be a broken hand. He landed some really hard shots on Kownacki, but the relentless 30 year old, walked through them and continue to move forward. I had Arreola winning both rounds11 and 12, but that was not enough to come away with the fight.

With the win, Adam Kownacki remains undefeated and on track to potentially earn a title shot sometime next year. The problem is that the heavyweight world title holders, Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz are committed to fights in the near future. Wilder is scheduled for a rematch with Luis Ortiz on November 9 and Andy Ruiz is currently negotiating a rematch with Anthony Joshua. Tyson Fury also looms for a highly anticipated rematch with Wilder, which may prevent that title shot coming for Kownacki in the nearer future.

One thing is for sure, Adam Kownacki is a tough young heavyweight at 6 foot 3 and 266 pounds. Tonight he proved that he can not only go twelve rounds, but he demonstrated that he is conditioned enough to throw over 1000 punches, which is no easy task for heavyweight. In this fight, he also reaffirmed that he has a granite chin, as he was not phased when taking Arreola’s best shots. Additionally, he once again proved that he has a significant following and fan base in Brooklyn that have not yet been disappointed yet by the their Baby Face bruiser. Kownacki is not only an entertaining fighter, he is hard not to like. He respects the sport and comports himself like a true professional. The embrace between he and Arreola prior to the start of the 12th round, as well as their complimentary comments concerning their opponents performances capped off a great heavyweight fight from start to finish. If you were tuned into this one, you were definitely entertained. If you happened to miss it, is definitely worth a watch. The heavyweight division is alive and well.

Daniel Gonzalez is a Senior Boxing Writer. Dan writes for many publications including Boxing Action Magazine, www.BoxingAction24.com and www.SideStepBoxing.com

Fight Photo Courtesy of PBC / Fox Sports and taken by Amanda Westcott, Sean Ham, Ryan Hafey & Tom Casino