10 months ago, back in March of 2020, Finland’s Robert Helenius revived his career in one big way with a stunning fourth-round KO win over Polish fan-fave Adam Kownacki. But since then, largely due to the coronavirus, we have heard almost nothing from either fighter. Helenius was unable to capitalise on his upset win, while Kownacki was not afforded the chance to bounce back.
But now, a year on, the two punchers find themselves back where they were last year. Well, almost. The rematch is set to go down sometime in the first quarter of 2021, as top scribe Mike Coppinger has tweeted. Yet this time, we have no idea who will win. Going into the first fight these two heavyweights had, almost everyone felt Kownacki would keep his momentum going and pretty easily. Now, with Helenius being 37 years of age and inactive for the last 10 months, and with Kownacki being 31 and inactive for the last 10 months, it’s anyone’s pick who wins the return.
Helenius, 30-3(19) had to soak up some hurt in the early going before coming back to turn the tables on Kownacki. If Kownacki has been busy ironing out his defensive flaws in the gym, maybe the younger man will get his revenge in fight-II. Or maybe Kownacki, 20-1(15) will always be what he is at heart: a pure slugger who needs to land his stuff before his rival can land his; or a warrior who has to take what comes at him before he gets the job done by way of overpowering and outwilling his foe.
The first fight was fun and there is nothing to suggest fight-two will be any different. It’s a risky assignment for both heavyweights. If Helenius loses the fight, where does he go from there? While if Kownacki is beaten twice in a row, by the same guy, where does he go?
Credit goes out to both fighters for agreeing to this dangerous fight. Whether the tables are turned, or whether they stay where they were placed on March 7, there seems to be almost zero chance this rematch gets anywhere near to the final bell. We will see a KO, as we did last year. But this one is a true 50/50 shoot-out.