Last night in his native Poland, former heavyweight contender Adam Kownacki suffered what surely must be a career-ending stoppage loss. Attempting to rebuild, this after having lost four fights on the bounce, Kownacki was stopped in a mere :45 seconds by Kacper Meyna, a fellow Pole the folks at RingTV.com refer to as a “local prospect.”
Kownacki was caught quick, his opponent driving him into a corner and blazing away with both hands. Not all of Meyna’s shots landed but Kownacki was rocked back on his heels and the referee decided he had seen enough, jumping in as the third man did. There were some calls of the stoppage being a somewhat premature one, and this argument can for sure be made. But Kownacki’s punch resistance really does seem to have almost completely left him.
Falling to 20-5(15), 34 year old Kownacki has now lost five fights in a row, all but one of them via stoppage. Meyna is now 12-1(8) and last night’s victory easily ranks as the biggest win thus far in the 24 year old’s five-year pro career.
Kownacki, once a real fan-favourite who thrilled us in exciting wining fights against the likes of Artur Szpilka, Iago Kiladze, Gerald Washington and Chris Arreola, suffered an upset loss against Robert Helenius back in March of 2020 and his career never recovered. Kownacki was beaten again by Helenuis, and “Baby face” was then beaten by Ali Eren Demirezen, Joe Cusumano (who flunked a drugs test after the fight), and now by Meyna.
Really, aside from a possible return fight with Meyna, with Kownacki and his remaining supporters using the premature stoppage angle, there looks to be no way back for Kownacki. A great guy and a good, honest and exciting fighter, it is to be hoped Kownacki does the smart thing and retires from the sport.
But will Kownacki struggle to leave the fight game, the way so many fighters have and will continue to do over the years?
As for Meyna, he can punch some and it will perhaps prove interesting seeing how far he can go.
