Kownacki, who was born in Poland and moved to the United States with his family when he was seven, beat former title challenger Chris Arreola in a unanimous decision win.
Kownacki, aka Babyface, decisioned his opponent after an entertaining, televised 12-round event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The fight drew a respectable crowd of nearly 9 thousand boxing fans to the venue which was full of Kownacki’s loud and proud Polish supporters wearing red and white, Poland’s national colours.
The managed to break the CompuBox scoring system’s records for both punches landed and thrown by heavyweights: 667 and 2,172, respectively.
“I thought it was a good fight, close, but I knew I pulled it out,” Kowancki told the FOX television after the bout. “I landed a lot of shots and that was enough to win. That’s all that matters,” he added.
His 20th victory proved that the 30-year-old Pole (20-0, 15 KOs), had the drawing power to remain on top of the bill after winning his first event as the headlining attraction. The win keeps him undefeated and on track for a heavyweight title opportunity.
"I've done a historic thing today, but that's not the end, I want to become the first Polish world champion,” Babyface declared on Saturday.
The win against Arreola can change the landscape of heavyweight boxing, commentators said. As of June 2019 Kownacki is ranked as the world's ninth best active heavyweight by The Ring magazine and tenth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. (mo)
source: PAP