By the time you read this article, Polish heavyweight slugger Adam Kownacki may well have announced his retirement from the sport. In fact, Kownacki, 20-4(15) absolutely should call it a career. It’s the fighter’s call, of course, as it should be, but Kownacki really does seem to be done. And though Kownacki fell short of reaching the top, or of even fighting for a world title, the 34 year old from Lomza sure gave it his all in all of his fights.
The loss to Joe Cusumano on Saturday’s card in New York marked Kownacki’s fourth straight loss, with three of these losses coming via stoppage. It was a good action fight on Saturday, a real back-and-forth slugfest, but Kownacki took a lot of punishment (with some people thinking the fight should have been stopped in Cusumano’s favour before the eighth round TKO came), while his punch resistance did not look at all good, and Kownacki looked slow and easy to hit.
These factors, added to the at times tough career Kownacki has had, with him engaging in a number of give and take (mostly take just lately) wars, make it look like retirement is the only sensible option for the immensely likeable “Babyface.”
If it is the end for Kownacki, as plenty of us think it should be (but again, it’s the fighter’s call and really nobody else’s), we owe him a big thank you for the great action he gave us. Going pro in October of 2009, this after a decent enough amateur career, Kownacki winning the NY Golden Gloves twice, the 20 year old fought in New York, as he would do frequently. In time, the I’ll hit you, you hit me, aggressive-minded slugger would thrill with wins over Artur Szpilka (a Poland Vs Poland battle), Iago Kiladze, “Prince” Charles Martin, Gerald Washington, and Chris Arreola.
Good fighters, beaten in good fights. There was now talk of Kownacki challenging WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder. Who knows how that fight might have gone had it happened? What we do know is this, Kownacki would have given it his all had he fought Wilder. Sure, Kownacki might have been blitzed, but there is a chance he might have extended Wilder and taken him into some deep and hot water in doing so. But Kownacki instead ran into Robert Helenius, this in March of 2020, Kownacki being upset via fourth round stoppage. The pandemic delayed the rematch by some months, but when it came, Kownacki was stopped again. Sadly, it’s been all downhill for Kownacki since.
Kownacki never had anything like a good or tight defence, but he had a good chin and plenty of heart and courage. The chin has eroded over the course of time/number of hard fights fought, yet Kownacki has retained his heart and courage. As fans know, this can so easily be a very real danger for an ageing fighter. 34 is not old, especially for a heavyweight, but Kownacki looked a good deal older on Saturday night.
Enjoy your retirement, Adam Kownacki, and thanks for the good fights.
