Helenius Came To Fight
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Joshua Garcia
Early in the evening Saturday Barclays Center in Brooklyn was packed to the brim with thousands of proud Polish Boxing aficionados waiting for the entrance of their undefeated Heavyweight contender. In a maginificent display that looked more akin to the Polish capital of Warsaw than one of the New York City boroughs, Adam Kownacki entered the arena to national hymns and a raucous crowd hungry for his twenty-first win.
Prior to Saturday’s contest with the Nordic Nightmare Robert Helenius, Adam Kownacki had never experienced a loss in his professional career. Seen as an emerging name in an extremely competitive heavyweight division, Kownacki aimed to add his name to the short list of fighters with a shot at the big four fighters at the top of the division.
With the entirety of the Barclays crowd going against the 6’7 Swedish heavyweight who was mostly unknown for lack of fights in the United States, he left a memory with Kownacki and his fans that will last a lifetime. Kownacki, the overwhelming favorite showed early why he was seen as a threat in the division with his walk down style and aggressive offense. But in boxing, anything can change at any moment.
The “Nordic Nightmare” as he is appropriately named came to Brooklyn to win his first ever fight stateside and did so with not just a signature straight right hand but great defense for a heavyweight. Adam Kownacki who owns two very heavy damaging hands continuously missed when attacking the head as Helenius rolled his shoulders and moved his head to avoid everything the Polish big man threw above the chest. A defensive performance that would have made the likes of Floyd Mayweather and his “Philly shell” style proud.
Landing very little Brooklyn’s Adam Kownacki began taking more risks after the third round and Robert Helenius quickly took advantage of the shorter fighter. Looking like a Viking version of Deontay Wilder, Helenius let loose the straight right hand and it found Kownacki with a ton of success, sending the bout in an unchangeable direction.
Three and a half rounds was all the NYC crowd would see as two Robert Helenius over the top right hands within the first thirty seconds of round four put Kownacki down, and then out. A very pertinent stoppage haulted the heavyweight eliminator bout as Kownacki was visibly unconscious on his feet and could not continue. Stunned faces and silence filled the Brooklyn arena as Brian Kenny of PBC on Fox exclaimed on the national broadcast, “And it’s over, a shocker! Robert Helenius stops Adam Kownacki! “
