Adam Kownacki

Last updated

Adam Kownacki
Born (1989-03-27) 27 March 1989 (age 35)
Łomża, Poland
Other namesBabyface
Statistics
Weight(s) Heavyweight
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) [1]
Reach193 cm (76 in) [1]
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record [2]
Total fights25
Wins20
Wins by KO15
Losses5

Adam Kownacki (born 27 March 1989 [3] ) is a Polish professional boxer.

Contents

Early life

Kownacki was born in Łomża, Poland. When he was 7 years old, he emigrated to Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1996 along with his parents and brothers, settling into the large Polish community there. As a youngster, he played a variety of sports, including basketball, baseball, football and soccer. [4] He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn in 2007.[ citation needed ]

He grew up watching Andrew Golota fights, which got him interested in boxing. As an overweight youngster who spoke English with a Polish accent, he was frequently the target of bullies at school and on the streets, which gave him further motivation to enter the boxing gym. [5] Early in his boxing career, Kownacki had to work in construction and security in nightclubs to support himself. [4]

Amateur career

Kownacki started training at Gleason's Gym at the age of 15. He first won the New York Golden Gloves heavyweight tournament in 2006 at the age of 17. He then went on to be the runner up in 2007 and 2008, then won the tournament for the second time in 2009. [5]

Professional career

Early career

Kownacki made his professional debut on 30 October 2009, at the PAL Gym in New York, United States, where he knocked out Carossee Auponte in the first round. His first fight of 2010 was against Tyyab Beale, which he won by knockout in the second round. He went on to fight twice more in 2010, knocking out Yohan Banks and Damon Clement. He fought once in 2013, beating Calbert Lewis by knockout in the second round. Kownacki next fought on 29 March 2014, against Excell Holmes, who he knocked out in the second round. Kownacki went on to get knockout wins against Charles Ellis and Jamal Woods to finish off the year.

His first fight of 2015 was against Randy Easton, who he knocked out in the first round. His next fight took place on 29 May, where he beat Ytalo Perea by unanimous decision over 8 rounds, the first time he had gone the distance in his professional career. His next fight was against Maurenzo Smith on 1 August, at the Barclays Center, New York. He knocked Maurenzo out in the second round. His last fight of 2015 was a unanimous decision win over Rodney Hernandez. Kownacki fought twice in 2016, with a unanimous decision over Danny Kelly and a knockout win against Jesse Barboza. He then went on to face Joshua Tufte on 14 January 2017, who he knocked out in the second round.

Rise up the ranks

On 15 July 2017 at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, he faced former world title challenger Artur Szpilka. Szpilka represented Kownacki's toughest opponent to date. He knocked out Szpilka in the 4th round. [6]

Kownacki's first fight of 2018 was against Iago Kiladze, at the Barclays Center, New York, on the undercard of Errol Spence Jr. vs Lamont Peterson. He won the fight by knockout in the sixth round. On 8 September 2018 he faced former IBF heavyweight world champion Charles Martin. After a close ten round fight, Kownacki won by unanimous decision with all judges scoring the bout 96–94 in favor of Kownacki. The bout was a part of the undercard for Danny García vs Shawn Porter at the Barclays Center, New York.

On 26 January 2019 Kownacki faced Gerald Washington. Kownacki was ranked #5 by the IBF and #8 by the WBC. [7] Kownacki knocked out Washington at the beginning of 2nd round. [8]

In his second bout of 2019, on 3 August at the Barclays Center, New York, Kownacki defeated Chris Arreola by unanimous decision (118–110, 117–111, 117–111), winning the IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title. [9] The fight broke the CompuBox record for the most combined punches thrown (2,172) and landed (667) in a heavyweight fight. [10]

Kownacki vs. Helenius

On 7 March 2020, Kownacki faced Robert Helenius in a WBA title eliminator. Kownacki was ranked #3 by the IBF, #4 by the WBA and the WBO and #6 by the WBC, while Helenius was ranked #7 by the WBA. [11] While Kownacki was the heavy favorite, Helenius pulled off a significant upset by stopping Kownacki in the fourth round, handing him his first professional loss. [12]

Kownacki vs. Helenius II

After over a year out of the ring, Kownacki returned on 9 October 2021 on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III, against Robert Helenius in a rematch of their previous 2020 fight. [13] The bout was stopped after six rounds of dominance by Helenius against a clearly overpowered Kownacki. The former had inflicted his opponent with a swollen left eye, before suffering repeated low blows, which caused Kownacki to be disqualified in the sixth round. [14] After the bout, the result was later changed to a technical knockout victory for Helenius. [15]

Professional boxing record

25 fights20 wins5 losses
By knockout154
By decision51
No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25Loss20–5 Kacper Meyna TKO1 (10), 0:452 Mar 2024Sports and Entertainment Hall in Koszalin, Koszalin, PolandFor the Polish Champion heavyweight title
24Loss20–4Joe CusumanoTKO8 (10), 2:0024 Jun 2023Hulu Theater, New York City, New York, US
23Loss20–3 Ali Eren Demirezen UD1030 Jul 2022Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
22Loss20–2 Robert Helenius TKO6 (12), 2:38 9 Oct 2021 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
21Loss20–1 Robert Helenius TKO4 (12), 1:087 Mar 2020Barclays Center, New York City, New York, USFor vacant WBA Gold heavyweight title
20Win20–0 Chris Arreola UD123 Aug 2019Barclays Center, New York City, New York, USWon vacant IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title
19Win19–0 Gerald Washington TKO2 (10), 1:0926 Jan 2019Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
18Win18–0 Charles Martin UD108 Sep 2018Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
17Win17–0 Iago Kiladze KO6 (10), 2:0820 Jan 2018Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
16Win16–0 Artur Szpilka TKO4 (10), 1:3714 Jul 2017 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, US
15Win15–0Joshua TufteTKO2 (8), 2:4014 Jan 2017Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
14Win14–0Jesse BarbozaTKO3 (6), 0:5626 Jun 2016Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
13Win13–0Danny KellyUD816 Jan 2016Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
12Win12–0Rodney HernandezUD810 Oct 2015 Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts, US
11Win11–0Maurenzo SmithKO2 (8), 2:261 Aug 2015Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
10Win10–0Ytalo PereaUD829 May 2015 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, US
9Win9–0Randy EastonKO1 (6), 0:4025 Apr 2015 Harrah's Philadelphia, Chester, Pennsylvania, US
8Win8–0Terrell Jamal WoodsTKO4 (8), 1:361 Nov 2014 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, US
7Win7–0Charles EllisTKO5 (6), 0:152 Aug 2014 Revel Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
6Win6–0Excell HolmesTKO2 (4), 0:4129 Mar 2014The Ballroom, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US
5Win5–0Calbert LewisTKO2 (4), 1:4320 Apr 2013 Madison Square Garden Theater, New York City, New York US
4Win4–0Damon ClementKO2 (4), 0:4216 Jul 2010 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, US
3Win3–0Yohan BanksKO4 (4), 1:1122 May 2010 Fitzgerald's Casino & Hotel, Tunica, Mississippi, US
2Win2–0Tyyab BealeTKO2 (4), 0:532 Apr 2010Brooklyn Masonic Temple, New York City, New York, US
1Win1–0Carossee AuponteTKO1 (4), 0:2230 Oct 2009PAL Gym, Yonkers, New York, US

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Tarver</span> American boxer

Antonio Deon Tarver is an American former professional boxer and boxing commentator. In boxing he competed from 1997 to 2015, and held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Unified), WBC, IBF and Ring magazine titles, as well as the IBO light heavyweight and cruiserweight titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomasz Adamek</span> Polish boxer

Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles from 2008 to 2009. He also held the IBO cruiserweight title in 2007, and challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011. BoxRec ranks Adamek as the third greatest Polish boxer of all time, pound for pound. He is the first Polish boxer to win The Ring title.

Bermane Stiverne is a Haitian-Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBC heavyweight title from 2014 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Arreola</span> American boxer

Cristobal Arreola is an American professional boxer who has challenged three times for the WBC heavyweight title. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.8 heavyweight at the conclusion of 2007 and as No.7 heavyweight from 2008 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deontay Wilder</span> American boxer

Deontay Leshun Wilder is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion since 2007, which was the longest period of time in boxing history without an American heavyweight champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Helenius</span> Finnish boxer (born 1984)

Robert Gabriel Helenius is a Finnish professional boxer. He has held multiple regional championships in the heavyweight division, including the European title twice between 2011 and 2016. As an amateur, he won a super-heavyweight silver medal at the 2006 European Championships. He holds notable wins over former world heavyweight champions Lamon Brewster, Samuel Peter, Siarhei Liakhovich and former European champion Derek Chisora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Ruiz Jr.</span> American boxer (born 1989)

Andrés Ponce Ruiz Jr. is an Mexican-American professional boxer. He is a former unified heavyweight world champion, having defeated Anthony Joshua to win the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artur Szpilka</span> Polish boxer

Artur Szpilka is a Polish professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2016. He holds a notable win over former two-weight world champion Tomasz Adamek.

Éric Lee Molina is a Mexican-American professional boxer. He has challenged twice for a world heavyweight title, in 2015 and 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryant Jennings</span> American boxer

Bryant Jennings is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the unified world heavyweight titles in 2015, and the WBA interim heavyweight title in the same year. Jennings holds notable wins over former world champion Siarhei Liakhovich, as well as former world title contenders Mike Perez and Artur Szpilka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Breazeale</span> American boxer

Dominic Angelo Breazeale is an American former professional boxer. He has challenged twice for heavyweight world titles; the IBF title in 2016 and the WBC title in 2019. As an amateur, he represented the United States at the 2012 London Olympics.

Gerald Washington is an American professional boxer. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Martin (boxer)</span> American boxer

Charles Lee Martin is an American professional boxer who held the IBF heavyweight title from January to April 2016. His 85-day reign as champion is the second-shortest in heavyweight boxing history, after Tony Tucker's 64 days in 1987. During Martin's short reign as IBF champion, he reached a peak active heavyweight ranking of ninth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. He was never featured in the top ten rankings of either BoxRec or The Ring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Browne</span> Australian boxer and mixed martial artist

Lucas Browne is an Australian professional boxer and former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Australian and Commonwealth heavyweight titles between 2012 and 2015.

Johann Duhaupas is a French professional boxer who challenged for the WBC heavyweight title in 2015. At regional level he has held multiple heavyweight titles, including the European Union title from 2013 to 2014.

Maciej Sulęcki is a Polish professional boxer who challenged for the WBO middleweight title in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman</span> Boxing competition

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman, billed as "X-Plosive", was a professional boxing match contested on 13 December 2008 for the IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championship.

Chris Colbert is an American professional boxer who held the WBA interim super featherweight title from 2020 to August 2021.

Frank Sánchez Faure is a Cuban professional boxer who has held the NABO heavyweight title since 2019 and the WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title since 2020.

Boxing in the 2020s is a list of notable fights and events in boxing during the decade from the year 2020 to 2029.

References

  1. 1 2 "BoxRec: Adam Kownacki". boxrec.com. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "Boxing record for Adam Kownacki". BoxRec .
  3. ↑ "AK Adam "Baby Face" Kownacki Story". akbabyface.com. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Eagle Q&A: Undefeated Greenpoint-raised boxing sensation Adam "Babyface" Kownacki". Brooklyn Eagle. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Adam Kownacki plagued but not stopped by injuries". The Ring. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  6. ↑ Ecksel, Robert (15 July 2017). "Kownacki TKOs Szpilka". boxing.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  7. ↑ "Kownacki vs Washington - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Christ, Scott (26 January 2019). "PBC on FOX results: Adam Kownacki destroys Gerald Washington in two rounds". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Garczarczyk, Przemek (3 August 2019). "Kownacki defeats Arreola in slugfest". Fightnews.com. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Adam Kownacki outpoints Chris Arreola in record-breaking heavyweight slugfest". www.cbssports.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Kownacki vs Helenius - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  12. ↑ Scott Christ (7 March 2020). "Kownacki vs Helenius results: Robert Helenius shocks Adam Kownacki, wins fourth round TKO". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Henschel, Jonathon (9 June 2021). "Helenius-Kownacki 2, Jared Anderson-Tereshkin added to Fury-Wilder 3 PPV on July 24th". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Idec, Keith (9 October 2021). "Robert Helenius Beats Down Adam Kownacki, Stops Him in Sixth". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  15. ↑ "Robert Helenius Resurrects Title Hopes With Second Straight Stoppage of Kownacki". BoxingInsider.com. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.