By Geno McGahee
This Saturday, Polish heavyweight hopeful, Adam Kownacki, 20-0, 15 KO’s, will enter the ring to take on fringe contender, Robert Helenius, 29-3, 18 KO’s, in a 12 round bout. The heavyweight division is currently alive and well with a lot of excitement and is wide open for Kownacki.
In the recent fights of Kownacki, he has stepped up the competition and has impressed. He beat former IBF heavyweight champion, Charles Martin, by unanimous decision. He followed that up with a quick knockout of former title challenger, Gerald Washington and a decision win over a motivated Chris Arreola. He has shown grit and the ability to chop down a big man as he did with Washington, who is the last man to beat Robert Helenius.
There was a time when Helenius was seen as the potential future of boxing. He would win his first 22 fights, including knockouts over former champions Lamon Brewster, Sergei Liakhovich and Samuel Peter. He got a decision win over Dereck Chisora and the future was bright…until he met up with Johann Duhaupas. Duhaupas was a fighter that he should have beaten, but he would get knocked down twice, losing by knockout in six rounds.
Helenius would rebound against limited opposition before taking on Dillian Whyte, losing a wide decision in an ugly fight. The next notable opponent would be Gerald Washington and he would be stopped in that fight, giving him his third loss and that is the fight that is the most telling at this point in the career of Helenius. Washington was easily beaten by Kownacki and Helenius was stopped by the same fighter. In all honesty, Washington is not a great fighter and doesn’t do well when hit. Helenius not beating Washington suggests that the former heavyweight hopeful is not nearly what he once was.
Despite all the talk of the height of Helenius, he’s only got three inches in height over the Polish freight train. Expect Kownacki to look shorter as he slightly crouches as he attacks, but they aren’t that far apart. Helenius is saying all the right things going into this fight. He wants to use his range, stay on the outside and don’t allow Kownacki to get his punches off. That strategy won’t work for 12 rounds, unless he goes into survival mode and holds and moves the entire time. I don’t think that Kownacki will allow that to happen.
The only chance for Helenius is to knock Kownacki out and do it early. It’s not out of the realm of possibility. He does have a good punch and Kownacki can be hit. If he doesn’t go for the KO, he is going to get chopped down systematically and stopped within six rounds, which is what I expect. Look for the Polish powerhouse to come out strong, dominate and stop Helenius in the fifth round after dropping him a few times along the way.