By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten heavyweight Adam Kownacki of Poland will be taking on Robert Helenius of Sweden in a 12-round WBA eliminator this Saturday, March 7th. The fight from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York can be seen live in North America on Fox and Fox Deportes and on BoxNation in the UK. Kownacki last fought in August when he beat Chris Arreola buy a 12-round unanimous decision. Helenius last saw action in November when he stopped Mateus Osorio in the second round.
The 30-year-old Kownacki has a perfect mark of 20-0 and has 15 big Kos under his belt. He stands 6-feet-3-inches tall and owns a 76-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2009 and has boxed just 88 rounds since then. He’s quite powerful and his current knockout stands at an impressive 75 per cent. He now fights out of Brooklyn and was a pretty good Golden Gloves boxer back in his amateur days. He isn’t a muscular, ripped boxer, but so far his body shape hasn’t had a negative impact on him.
Kownacki has displayed a solid chin up to now but his lack of experience against upper grade boxers is pretty evident. However, he did beat former world champion Charles Martin by 10-round unanimous decision in 2018 and also stopped fellow countryman Artur Szpilka in the fourth round in July, 2017. He’s also beaten the likes of Gerald Washington, Joshua Tufte, Jesse Barboza and Danny Kelly. Kownacki simply lets his fists to the talking and isn’t interested in hearing what the judges have to say. So far his style has produced some pretty entertaining fights.
The 36-year-old Helenius was born in Sweden and fights out of Finland. He enters the fight with a fine record of 29-3 with 18 Kos and is a former European Heavyweight champion. Helenius is a pretty good heavyweight but isn’t very well known outside of Europe. He’s owns a decent chin along to go along with good power and can also put punches together with the best of them. He turned pro back in 2008 and has boxed 185 rounds since then.
Helenius’ biggest wins have been against Dereck Chisora by split decision in 2011. He also stopped Samuel Peter the same year as well as stopping Sergei Liakhovich four months later and Lamon Brewster in 2010. He has a current knockout percentage of 56.3 per cent. His first lone was a sixth-round stoppage at the hands of Johan Duhaupas in April of 2016. He then dropped a 12-round decision to Dillian Whyte for the vacant WBC Silver Heavyweight Title in 2017 and was stopped in the eighth round by Gerald Washington last July.
Helenius is bigger than Kownacki as he stands just over 6-feet-6-inches tall with a 79-inch reach. This gives him a 3.5-inch height advantage as well as a three-inch edge in reach. Helenius stopped Erkan Teper in the eighth round in 2018 for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Heavyweight Crown in 2018. He’s also formerly won the vacant WBC International Heavyweight Title in 2017 when he stopped Evgeny Orlov in the sixth round.
Since turning pro after a fine amateur career, Helenius has also captured the IBF International, WBO Inter-Continental, WBA Inter-Continental and European belts in the past. Helenius has fought some pretty good opposition over the years in Brewster, Liakhovich, Whyte, Washington, Duhaupas, Peter, and Chisora and also has wins over Michael Sprott and Sherman Williams.
Prediction…
When he’s at his best, Helenius can be a handful for just about any heavyweight. However, he’s now 36 years old and his chin has let him down a couple of times in the past. He may be bigger than Kownacki with more experience but Kownacki’s style isn’t a good match for Helenius. This fight could end up being decided by power and chins and if it is then Kownacki definitely has the edge.
