Unbeaten Polish star and Brooklyn native Adam Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs) in an all-action brawl in front of his hometown fans.
The fight headlined FOX PBC Fight Night main event and on FOX Deportes Saturday night from Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING™.
Kownacki and Arreola set the CompuBox heavyweight record for combined punches landed and thrown in a heavyweight fight. They landed a combined 667 punches, besting the previous record of 650, while throwing 2,172 punches, far surpassing the previous mark of 1,730.
“Chris is an Aztec warrior,” said Kownacki. “He’s a great fighter. I knew it would be a tough fight and I prepared for it. The CompuBox numbers prove it was a great fight.”
“Adam is relentless,” said Arreola. “He just keeps coming. I know I got him with some good punches and he got me with some good ones. I was more than ready to go all 12, but Adam came in and won the fight.”
The action began right from the first bell, as Kownacki charged at Arreola and immediately began exchanging as both men threw power punches in bunches. Kownacki worked off of his jab to initiate his offense, while Arreola was effectively able to counter his hard-charging opponent and respond every time he was hit with a combination.
“I thought it was a good close fight but I knew I pulled it out,” said Kownacki. “I landed a lot of shots and that was enough to win. That’s all that matters.”
Kownacki stunned Arreola in the early moments of round two but Arreola quickly responded to slow Kownacki’s momentum. Arreola found more and more success with his overhand right as the fight went, landing the punch numerous times in the fourth and fifth round especially.
HANG
Round six was a back and forth affair that featured a big offensive surge from Kownacki early in the round, before an exciting exchange at the end of the round saw both men take heavy punches.
“I tried to follow up when I had him hurt but I was throwing two punches instead of three or four,” said Kownacki. “Props to Arreola because he proved he could still hang. I’m sure the fans would want to see him again.”
The middle rounds saw Arreola pick up a hand injury, but it didn’t appear to slow him down much as his punch output continued to be strong for the second half of the fight. For Kownacki, it was his first time going past 10 rounds as a pro.
After the punches continued to fly through the last bell, the two heavyweights embraced in the ring prior to hearing the judges’ scores. After 12 rounds, all three judges saw the fight in favor of Kownacki, by scores of 117-11 twice and 118-110.
“Retirement is something I need to talk to my family and team about,” said Arreola. “I gave it my all this fight. I let it all hang out. After breaking my hand, I kept fighting because I believed I could win.”
“I just have to keep training hard, getting better and sharpening my skills,” said Kownacki. “We’ll see what the future holds. Hopefully next year I’ll get the title shot.”
Later, Kownacki sat next to WBC ruler Deontay Wilder on the broadcast team, announcing his intention to challenge the champion soon.
Wilder is penciled in to face Kownacki at some point in 2020.
