The
Heavyweight bout between top-rated undefeated contender Adam Kownacki and
longtime contender Chris Arreola seemed to check the boxes that of what Boxing
fans tend to crave. Two fighters with crowd-pleasing styles, who are each known
for their willingness to come forward and mix it up with their opponents.
This fight
also presented a familiar story of a contender on the rise going against an
experienced veteran, who some believed his best days were behind him. When you
combine the meshing of similar styles, the storyline of a veteran looking to
revitalize his career going against a young unbeaten contender, who had not faced
a significant test in his career, a capacity crowd at the Barclays Center in
Brooklyn, NY, and a national television audience the ingredients can at times
produce an exciting fight. When Kownacki and Arreola met in the ring on August
3rd, the Boxing world was treated to what may very well be one of
the most competitive fights in the Heavyweight division in years.
From the
opening bell, Kownacki and Arreola engaged in battle. What emerged was a fight
where both fighters threw punches nearly non-stop for the duration of the
twelve round bout. While fights that are fought at such a pace are difficult to
score, they are also rare to see in the Heavyweight division.
What can be
a challenge in a fight like this is to determine which fighter is able to
execute their offense more efficiently way compared to their opponent. Although
that may seem like a relatively simple explanation to some, it isn’t
necessarily as simple as it might sound because the pace of the fight was such
that both fighters were extremely active with their offense and each had
moments in several rounds.
Fights like
this can indeed be difficult for one to score, but what this observer tends to
look for under circumstances like this are subtle differences that can
ultimately determine the difference. Sometimes it can come down to small things
that can make an impression on the judges scoring a fight. Kownacki was the fighter
generally coming forward and initiating the combat throughout the fight. This
gave me the impression that he was bringing the fight to Arreola, which did
give him the benefit of the doubt in some close rounds on my scorecard. Arreola
however, had consistent success throughout the bout in landing flush right
hands to the head of Kownacki.
The result
of the fight, a twelve round unanimous decision in favor of Kownacki, was not a
surprise. What was a surprise regarding the scoring was that the three official
judges scored the fight by margins of nine rounds to three and ten rounds to
two respectively. While Kownacki was the more aggressive of the two fighters in
my view, I did feel the fight was closer as I scored it by a margin of eight
rounds to four in his favor. Having said this, I would not consider the scoring
controversial.
In terms of
statistics, this fight will go down in the record books as a record-breaking bout
for Heavyweights as the two fighters combined to throw an astonishing 2,172
total punches in the twelve round fight as well as combining to land 667 total
punches according to CompuBox statistics. Both aspects broke the Heavyweight
records for both total punches thrown and landed. Records that ironically
involved one fighter in two separate fights.
In 1996 and
1997 respectively, David Tua, a former longtime top contender took part in two
fights that set the respective records. The first against David Izon in December
1996 where the record for most punches landed in a Heavyweight fight compiled
by Compubox was set of 660 punches. Tua’s first career defeat came in a close
decision loss to Ike Ibeabuchi in June 1997 where they set the then record for
total punches thrown by Heavyweights in a single fight of 1,730. While there have been many fights in over the
last two decades and even though Compubox statistics do not always tell the
full story of what goes on in a fight, it does serve as an accurate illustration
in just how rare it is to see a Heavyweight fight fought at such a pace that
goes the full distance of a fight, though, in the case of Tua’s fight against
Izon, he was able to score a stoppage win in the final round of that fight.
Although it
is understandable how a fighter can need time to recuperate from a fight like
this, a natural question to ask is what is next for Adam Kownacki off of the
most significant win of his career thus far? Kownacki and his wife are
expecting the birth of a new edition to their family in the near future. This
combined with needing time to allow his body and mind to recharge from what was
a grueling battle against Chris Arreola will likely keep him out of the ring at
least for a few months.
Once
Kownacki is ready to return to active competition, this observer believes that
a good potential opponent would be former WBO Heavyweight world champion Joseph
Parker. Not only, does Parker carry the name recognition value of being a
recent former world champion in the division with him, but in terms of the
current rankings in the Heavyweight division, both Parker and Kownacki are
rated number five and six respectively in the World Boxing Council (WBC)
ratings, which would make a fight between the two an ideal option as Parker
looks to position himself for another opportunity at a world championship and
Kownacki looks to continue climbing the later towards a potential title shot of
his own.
While in
Boxing it is not always as simple as a contender faces a contender who just
happens to be one position above him in his next fight if nothing else due to
the political elements that surround the sport, it does seem like it would be another
good test for Kownacki against a fighter in Parker who has been to the top
before and has more experience against the upper echelon of the division. Stylistically,
it would be an interesting fight to watch and depending on the outcome could
springboard the winner into a world championship fight in the not too distant
future.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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