Adam Kownacki talks first headline fight ahead of becoming dad

Mark Lelinwalla

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Adam Kownacki talks first headline fight ahead of becoming dad image

NEW YORK — A funny thing happened to Adam Kownacki on the way to his media workout at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn on Wednesday. During the drive there, the heavyweight’s brother felt there was an issue with the rims of his car, so they stopped at a local tire shop.

The attendants behind the desk gave him the mechanic spiel of, "we’ll be with you in 10 minutes." But when Kownacki stepped out of the vehicle, their tone quickly changed to his surprise.

“I got out of the car and it was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re Adam, the heavyweight boxer!’” he told Sporting News. “They took care of us right away and tried to fix it as best they could. Great people and Brooklyn is very united.”

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That’s the kind of attention — and preferential treatment — Kownacki is receiving in his hometown as he closes in on his first headline fight Saturday against former title challenger Chris Arreola at the Barclays Center, live on “PBC Fight Night” on FOX.

But while he’s receiving plenty of love in the streets of Brooklyn, bound to get a raucous reception from his Polish fans at Barclays this weekend, Kownacki is currently playing second fiddle at home. His wife is nine months pregnant, with their baby boy slated to make his world debut on Aug. 29.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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“Everybody is thrilled,” he said. “The baby is taking some of my spotlight to tell you the truth.

“Everybody asks for the kid, so I’m kind of jealous,” he continued, laughing.

Let’s just say Kownacki is feeling every bit of anxiety over becoming a first-time father.

“My wife laughs at me and says I’m going to faint,” he added. “I don’t know. It’s going to be a first-time experience. I’ll tell you (how I feel) after. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep cool in the ring and stay cool (in the delivery room).”

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It’s certainly an exciting time in the 30-year-old’s life.

Kownacki (19-0, 15 KOs) believes a convincing win over a battled-tested Arreola (38-5-1 with 2 no-contests, 33 KOs) will inch him one step closer to possibly facing WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder at some point next year. Although Wilder has impending bouts with Luis Ortiz and Tyson Fury and is bound to have interest in facing the winner of the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua rematch, Kownacki does know a way he could send a message to “The Bronze Bomber”: dispose of Arreola quicker than he did.

Wilder dominated the July 2016 bout to the point Arreola’s corner stopped the fight after the eighth round. But the victory proved costly for the champ, who broke his right hand and tore his biceps in the same arm, needing surgeries on both. Those wounds kept Wilder out of action for more than seven months.

Kownacki wants to get rid of Arreola quicker and even more emphatically on Saturday night. The 38-year-old Arreola said that if he can’t defeat Kownacki, he’ll retire. 

That statement should motivate Kownacki even more. That’s fuel on top of the energy that Kownacki’s feverish fan base will certainly bring.

Those same fans completely lost it during his unanimous decision win over former world champion Charles Martin in September 2018 as part of the Danny Garcia-Shawn Porter card at the Barclays Center.

They also drowned out the same venue when Kownacki pulverized Gerald Washington with a second-round TKO as the co-main event to the Keith Thurman-Josesito Lopez fight in January.

Wilder was in attendance for that and seemed to be impressed with Kownacki, who needed three fewer rounds to eviscerate Washington than he did in February 2017. Kownacki has family members converging to Brooklyn from Connecticut, Chicago, California and Poland and will be looking to feed off fans’ energy even more Saturday night during his first main event.

“I think I get fans because of my fans,” Kownacki said. “People just want to join the crowd and make it an amazing atmosphere and experience. It definitely adds to all the energy and gives me more power to fight the fights.”

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It has been a long time coming for Kownacki to be a headliner. His family emigrated from Lomza, Poland to the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn when he was just 7 years old. He found his way into the renowned Gleason’s Gym at 16, where his amateur trainer James Thornwell took the chubby kid under his guidance.

“When I put him in the ring, he could take a punch and he could give a punch,” Thornwell said. “And he punches the whole round and that’s what a trainer likes to see — a fighter punch three minutes. And if you could hit him, he could come right back at you.

“He don’t even care if you hit him, but he’s going to hit you plenty of times,” Thornwell added. “Physique don’t win fights. If the guy can fight, it don’t matter what he looks like.”

Andy Ruiz Jr. is a testament to that after his stunning seventh-round upset of Anthony Joshua to become the unified world heavyweight champion in June. That said, Kownacki says Ruiz spoiled it for the rest of the chubby guys in the process.

Watching Ruiz shock Joshua to become the first Mexican world heavyweight champion did light even more fire underneath Kownacki to become the first Polish-American heavyweight champ.

Whether an emphatic win over Arreola brings him that world title shot that he’s so hungry for remains to be seen.

“Time will tell,” Kownacki said. “Boxing has its own way of doing things, so all I gotta do is focus on myself, continue winning and the opportunity will eventually present itself.”

Mark Lelinwalla

Mark Lelinwalla Photo

Mark Lelinwalla is a contributing writer and editor for DAZN News. He has written for the likes of the New York Daily News, Men's Health, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Complex, XXL and Vibe Magazine.