Adam Kownacki

Last updated

Adam Kownacki
Adam Kownacki in 2024.png
Kownacki in 2024
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
Losses4
No contests1

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

Contents

Early life

Kownacki was born in Łomża, Poland and grew up in Konarzyce. [4] 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. [5] He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn in 2007. [6]

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. [7] Early in his boxing career, Kownacki had to work in construction and security in nightclubs to support himself. [5]

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. [7]

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. [8]

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. [9] Kownacki knocked out Washington at the beginning of 2nd round. [10]

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. [11] The fight broke the CompuBox record for the most combined punches thrown (2,172) and landed (667) in a heavyweight fight. [12]

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. [13] 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. [14]

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. [15] 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. [16] After the bout, the result was later changed to a technical knockout victory for Helenius. [17]

Professional boxing record

25 fights20 wins4 losses
By knockout153
By decision51
No contests1
No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25Loss20–4 (1) Kacper Meyna TKO1 (10), 0:452 Mar 2024Hala Widowiskowo-Sportowa, Koszalin, PolandFor vacant Republic of Poland heavyweight title
24NC20–3 (1)Joe CusumanoTKO8 (10), 2:0024 Jun 2023Hulu Theater, New York City, New York, USOriginally TKO win for Cusumano, result later ruled NC after Cusumano failed a drugs test
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

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. ↑ "Jaki tam New York… „Babyface" to swój chłop z Konarzyc". Weszlo (in Polish). 21 April 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Eagle Q&A: Undefeated Greenpoint-raised boxing sensation Adam "Babyface" Kownacki". Brooklyn Eagle. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "Adam Kownacki is waiting for his shot". NY Daily News. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Adam Kownacki plagued but not stopped by injuries". The Ring. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Ecksel, Robert (15 July 2017). "Kownacki TKOs Szpilka". boxing.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "Kownacki vs Washington - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  10. ↑ Christ, Scott (26 January 2019). "PBC on FOX results: Adam Kownacki destroys Gerald Washington in two rounds". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  11. ↑ Garczarczyk, Przemek (3 August 2019). "Kownacki defeats Arreola in slugfest". Fightnews.com. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "Adam Kownacki outpoints Chris Arreola in record-breaking heavyweight slugfest". www.cbssports.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "Kownacki vs Helenius - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Idec, Keith (9 October 2021). "Robert Helenius Beats Down Adam Kownacki, Stops Him in Sixth". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "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.