Helenius Stuns Brooklyn Crowd, Drops And Stops Kownacki In 4

BROOKLYN, NY — In a crowd-silencing upset, stalwart Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius (30-3, 19KO) stopped previously unbeaten fan favoriteAdam “Babyface” Kownacki (21-15KO) in the main event of a PBC on FOX card from the Barclays Center.

In the opening round, the fight looked like it would be a classic Kownacki display, as the Polish-born Brooklynite immediately greeted Finland’s Helenius with fists of fury from the opening bell.

But in the second, Helenius fought fire with fire and stood toe-to-toe with Kownacki, trading wild blows. Kownacki bested Helenius in their exchanges, but proved vulnerable to Helenius’s right hand.

Everything changed midway through the fourth when Kownacki, who had banked all three rounds to that point, exchanged right hands with Helenius. The 30 year-old Kownacki landed a heavy right at the same time the 36 year-old Helenius clipped him with a right on the chin, which sent him dazed and to the mat. Referee David Fields incorrectly ruled a slip, but Kownacki was all out of sorts when the fight resumed. Hazy- eyed and woozy, Kownacki struggled to steady his 265.2lb frame. Helenius continued to batter Kownacki, who displayed zero survival skills, and scored a knockdown with a straight left. The barrage of punches continued to rein on Kownacki until Fields stepped in to stop the contest at the 1:07 mark of the fourth round, silencing the 8,811 fans in attendance, most of whom were decked out in Polish red and white.

It was as great a night as it could have been for Helenius, who was knocked out cold by Gerald Washington in his only other fight on US soil. The Finland-native, who holds wins over former world champions Sam Peter and Lamon Brewster, has now won two in a row since the Washington bout.

Tonight marked Kownacki’s first defeat and tenth fight at the Barclays Center. It was also the first time he was back in the ring since his historic twelve round brawl against former world title challenger Chris Arreola, a bout that set the record for most punches thrown (2,172) and landed (667) in a heavyweight contest.

“Kownack is a tough fighter,” Helenius said. “I worked hard in training camp and it paid off.

“I knew that I hit him hard and I knew I just had to continue. I knew he was still hurt after that .

Kownacki also spoke after the fight, stating, “”It wasn’t my night. It’s boxing. It’s a tough sport and things just didn’t go my way tonight. It was a learning experience and I’m going to go back to the drawing board and get back to work.

“He hit me with a good shot. I knew what was going on, but I’m just upset with myself. It is what it is.”

Ajagba Batters Cojanu En Route To 9th Round TKO

Heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba (13-0, 11KO) battered and broke down Romania’s Razvan Cojanu (17-7, 9KO) en route to a ninth round TKO victory.

Ajagba, 25, started slow, perhaps a bit gun-shy as this was his first time back in the ring since his fight against Iago Kiladze — a fight in which both men traded early knockdowns before Ajagba landed a fight-ending right in the fifth. Tonight, the former Nigerian Olympian, needed a few rounds to find a rhythm, and while he slowly eased his way into the contest, his Romanian counterpart was letting his hands fly. After enduring a start, one in which Ajagba would likely admit he was on the receiving end of too many clean shots, the Nigerian started to ramp things up in the late-middle rounds.

By the seventh round, Ajagba was beginning to wear down Cojanu, and every backwards step Cojanu took, Ajagba matched with a step forward. Roughly two minutes into the eight round Ajagba landed an explosive right cross that halted Cojanu in his tracks. Ajagba, who trains out of Houston, TX with Ronnie Shields, quickly followed up with a flurry of punches that sent the Romanian to the mat. The Romanian barely beat referee Ron Lipton’s 10-count and convinced him he was fit to continue.

In the next round, Ajagba would finish off Cojanu for good, punishing him for the majority of the round until the Romanian willingly took a knee near Ajabga’s blue corner. Lipton stepped in to wave off the bout at the 2:46 mark of round nine.

“Cojanu has a lot of experience,” Ajagba said post-fight. “When I threw my , he used his right hand to block my vision, so I couldn’t throw as many combinations as I wanted. It was a good challenge.

“Ronnie told me to attack the body behind the jab. It was very effective and it started to slow him down. When he got close to me, I knew to throw more and punish him.

Frank Sanchez Easily Outpoints Joey Dawejko In Ten Round Clash

In the opening bout of the televised portion of the PBC on FOX card, 27 year-old Cuban heavyweight Frank “The Cuban Flash” Sanchez (15-0, 11KO) turned back the always-game Joey “Tank” Dawejko (20-8-4, 11KO) to earn a ten round unanimous decision (100-90×2, 98-92).

It was a relatively clean performance from the 6’4” 222lbs Sanchez, who didn’t allow for the shorter, stockier Dawejko (5’10”, 247lbs) to get into an offensive rhythm. The rising heavyweight prospect did well in the early onset to keep Dawejko out of range, employing a weighted mixture of and defensive to muffle any Dawejko offense.

By the early-middle rounds, Sanchez was scoring regularly with jabs, and more devastatingly with straight rights that were landing without resistance. By the time the fifth round came to a close, Dawejko was sporting a nasty cut over his left eye.

After being dominated the previous round, the stout Polish- American dug deep in the sixth though and had his best round of the fight, landing two beautiful lefts – one upstairs, one downstairs – during the frame. Any minor success was short- lived, however, as the Cuban came back with two big rights to bookend a clear-cut Sanchez seventh round.

Credit is deserved for the game Philadelphian though, who never stopped trying to close the distance between him and Sanchez. Dawejko various ways to jumpstart his offense — at times lunging into range while throwing looping left hooks and windmilling rights. Other times, the 29 year-old Polish- American shuffled into range behind a double jab. Unfortunately, when Dawejko did close the gap, Sanchez punished him for it.

At the end of ten, all three judges scored the contest wide for Sanchez, 100-90, twice and 98-94.

“I was well prepared and I thought I fought very well tonight,” Sanchez said afterward. “I dominated the fight. I showed good footwork and movement and did exactly what we worked on.

“I didn’t want to fight Dawejko’s fight, and he realized that and it frustrated him. He might have thought he’s faced guys like me, but there’s no other heavyweight like me.” Dawejko shared his thoughts post-fight, too, saying, “I knew he was going to fight on the outside and he stayed on the outside. Not much to say, he just did what he had to do.

“He was scared that’s why he was running around. He kept jumping back and staying away, so I guess he made it easy on the judges.”

Carlos Negron Takes Robert Alfonso’s “O”, Stops Him In One

Puerto Rican heavyweight Carlos Negron (21-3, 16KO) dropped previously unbeaten Cuban Robert Alfonso (19-1-1, 9KO) twice in the first round to score a TKO victory in a contest initially slated for eight rounds.

Negron, 33, caught Alfonso early with a left hook that the former 2008 Cuban Olympian never recovered from. The 6’6” Puerto Rican kept the pressure on and battered Alfonso around the ring until Alfonso collapsed to the mat where referee Mark Ortega immediately stopped the contest at the 2:03 mark of the first round.

The win stops a two-fight skid for Negron, who had been KO’d in both.

For the 33 year-old Alfonso, tonight marks his first pro defeat.

Steven Torres Knocks Out Ajabor In 2

Heavyweight prospect Steven Torres (3-0, KO) kept his win and KO percentage perfect, stopping previously unbeatenAlex Ajabor (2-1, KO) in the second of a scheduled four round contest.

Midway through the round’s opening frame, Ajabor landed a clean shot on Torres and got overly excited. The 34 year-old Ajabor carelessly flung punches at Torres, who countered with a clipping right that dropped Ajabor hard to the mat. In the next round, Reading, PA’s Torres emphatically ended the fight with a straight right that landed on the button and turned off Ajabor’s lights. The referee immediately waved off the fight at the 2:32 mark of the second round.

The 6’7” Torres, who is trained by Anibal Adorno (father of Top Rank prospects Joseph and Jeremy), has fought all of his pro contests at the Barclays Center.

Zachary Ochoa Earns Hard-Fought UD Over Angel Sarinana

In his Barclays Center debut, Brooklyn native Zachary “Zungry” Ochoa (21-1, 7KO) scored a hard-earned unanimous decision (77-73×2, 76-74) over fellow junior welterweight Angel “Pescado” Sarinana (10-10-3, 4KO) in a eight round affair.

It was a back and forth affair that initially saw Ochoa wanting to box on the outside, sticking and moving. But the Mexican in Sarinana wanted action, and insisted on bringing the fight to Ochoa, constantly walking himself into range where the two were more than happy to eat a shot to a land a few of their own.

In the seventh round, referee Mike Ortega deducted a point from 27 year-old Sarinana for headbutting. Early in the following round Ortega evened the score, deducting a point from Ochoa for holding.

It was only once the fight resumed after the holding deduction did Sarinina throw all caution to the wind, bull-rushing his way towards Ochoa throwing fists from all angles, scoring most notably with left hooks. Ochoa dealt with Sarinana’s explosive aggression well enough to pepper in his own hooks and crosses that made for electrifying exchanges as the fight came to a close.

But in the end, it was the 27 year-old Ochoa, who got the nod from all three judges. The win runs his unbeaten streak to five — all via decision. He was retired by Yves Ulysses, Jr. in 2017, which remains the lone blemish on his record.

Conversely, the loss drops Sarinana’s record on US soil to 1-6. His only win in the US came against previously unbeaten Kazakh, Dimash Niyazov at the Barclays Center in 2018.

Gonzalez Notches First Stoppage Win Over Labby

In a welterweight contest initially slated for six rounds, New York City’s Arnold Gonzalez (4-0, 1KO) scored a third round TKO over Illinois’ Traye Labby (4-5-4, 3KO).

It was undoubtedly the most impressive the 25 year-old Gonzalez has looked in his young career. The Ecuadorean- American found a home for his right hand early and often and strategically applied pressure that Labby struggled to deal with. Early in the third round, Gonzalez walked a wounded Labby into a neutral corner and unloaded a barrage of shots that whipped a defenseless Labby’s head in every direction until the referee stepped in to stop the contest at the :53 second mark.

It was the first loss in eight fights for the 24 year-old Labby, who last tasted defeat in April 2017.

For Gonzalez, who trains with Julian Chua out of the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, tonight marked the third consecutive fight at the Barclays Center.

Boston’s Hogan Scores Impressive KO Win In Debut

In his pro debut, Boston’s Francis “The Tank” Hogan (1-0, 1KO) scored a fourth round KO over fellow southpaw Brent Oren (2-4) to kick off an eight bout fight card from the Barclays Center.

Hogan, 19, fought a calculated and at times reserved fight, but displayed bursts of offense that left Lynchburg, VA’s Oren with no answers. Roughly two-thirds into the fourth round, Hogan planted a meaty left hook to the liver that immediately shut down Oren’s system, leaving him crumpled in a ball near the red corner where he was counted out. The end officially came at the 2:11 mark of round 4.

Hogan, who racked up various amateur titles over the last few years, made the decision to turn pro after dropping two close contests at the US Olympic qualifying tournament in December. He’ll look to go 2-for-2 as a pro on April 9 when he makes his hometown debut in Boston.