Fight fans haven’t missed the fact that unbeaten heavyweight fan-favourite Adam Kownacki has halted a couple of Deontay Wilder’s former victims in far quicker fashion than the WBC ruler managed. Twice now, and counting, the Polish slugger with the 19-0(15) pro ledger has taken out guys who gave Wilder a reasonably tough time of things:
Artur Szpilka, who took Wilder nine-rounds in a WBC title challenge back in January of 2016, was taken out by Kownacki in four-rounds in his very next fight (of course, one could argue how the nasty KO he suffered at the hands of Wilder took a whole lot out of Szpilka).
And Gerald Washington, who took Wilder into the fifth-round of a failed title challenge in February of 2017 (and was in the opinion of many outboxing Wilder) was on Saturday blasted out inside just two-rounds by Kownacki.
It’s these impressive KO performances, along with his exciting style, that has fans wondering if Kownacki can go as far as winning a world title. And the 29 year old wants Wilder, this year, maybe even next. Is Kownacki ready for Wilder? Has he done enough to have earned a shot at Wilder?
Wilder does have bigger fish to fry, so to speak, what with that fan-demanded and WBC ordered return fight with Tyson Fury, but Kownacki is certainly closing in. Wilder, who was ringside on Saturday night, told reporters that he likes Kownacki’s style and approach. If the match-up did get made – either before the Fury return, or after it, or instead of it if Fury fights someone else – it would almost definitely produce an exciting, perhaps thrilling battle between two men who always look for the knockout.
Kowancki is going the right way towards getting himself the kind of big fight one with Wilder would be, and he has major fan support already. At The Barclays Centre, towards the end of this year, who knows, maybe we could see Wilder defend against Kownacki. It could prove to be too early for Kownacki (then again, he has been a pro for almost ten years now, even if he has not yet had 20 pro fights; Kownacki having a near-three year layoff from July of 2010 to April of 2013) or maybe not.
But it would be a fun fight, you can count on that. I wonder, who would the lion’s share of the attending fans root for?