Even if “The Nightmare†comes in at a higher weight, he should not be taken lightly given what Andy Ruiz did to Anthony Joshua. Boxing fans now know that looks can be deceiving as the variables of hand speed, stamina, techniques, and ring IQ become more relevant than muscle mass, an issue that this time around will be moot.
When Chris’s weight is under 250, he is a very dangerous heavyweight, especially in the early rounds. Once he has his opponent hurt, he closes as well as anyone in boxing. This Mexican-American, raised in East Los Angeles, was an accomplished amateur and knows his way around the ring with a solid grasp of fundamentals
“The Nightmare†clearly has fought a higher level of opposition but aside from his bout against the unheralded and tedious Augustin, he hasn’t looked in top form since blowing away Seth Mitchell in 2013. Moreover, his experience could be offset by his age, ring mileage, and the younger Kownacki’s “home field advantage†at Barclays where he has built up a tremendous fan base.
Like Arreola, “Babyface” was an accomplished amateur. He spars a lot with Jarrell Miller—the two are close friends—and he fights in a similar manner except that his shots seem to carry more pop than Big Baby’s.
I se the schmoo-like ;D “Babyface†Kownacki (19-0, 15 KOs) stopping Chris in the mid rounds.
Arreola can last if he fights smart, but hell he would have had a longer career if he fought smart earlier on. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It should be a fun fight while it lasts.
Kownacki comes in some 20 lbs heavier. Maybe t shirts should become optional for prime time free tv heavies. Hope that Pascal v Brown turns into a quality scrap.
Arreola has been looking pretty bad for the last few years, shame he was always a class above the regular journeyman. I think kownacki will just beat on him for twelve rounds or whenever Arreola corner stops it…
And before you can say it’s odd for Curtis Stevens to come down to 154 at this stage there he is being absolutely dominated and ko’d by welterweight Wale Omotoso :-. He was hurt by nearly every shot that touched him. Time to call it a day
This isn’t on any of the channels. I get, so I’m not watching… Seen the Facebook highlights though.. Didn’t realise Steven’s had gone Down in weight for this, that’ll be him retiring then.
I like Arreola but I hope the pole wins, Arreola has had his time and is only going to get splatted v the top guys now. The pole is a hard worker and not rubbish.
Let’s hope this one post gets through. I had written another one and it never made it. Anyway… watched some of the Pascal-Browne fight and it ended badly for Browne. He had won every other round except the ones he was knocked down in… one of them twice… and ended up losing a technical decision after an accidental headbutt opened a new eye above his left one (ouch).
Arreola-Kownacki (how do announcers get an “s” sound out of Kownacki?) was a slugfest. Kudos to Chris for hanging in there after hurting his left hand midway through the fight. Kownacki looked good, but maybe less so than in the past… or should I say more vulnerable. He’s certainly there to be hit, and I don’t know how he’d stand up to the bombs of a Deontay Wilder. One fight that would be super interesting to watch would be Kownacki-Ruiz. Two fat boys with no reverse gear and good power.
Well… better stop writing in case I get told that I need to wait 3,582 seconds before making my next post. :-\
Yeah forum is dysfunctional tonight, weird. I liked the card though, wouldnt have called any of those fights properly, with Pascal winning being the only real upset of course, didnt think he had much chance, but again showed hes always very good in short bursts. Browne didnt win the rounds he did by a lot, and the knockdowns were dramatic, the head clash clearly a mutual thing, so no problem with that call, good for Pascal. Stevens didnt react well to punches at all, not that he ever did, did well to even make a fight it out of it for a bit after the knockdowns and glad the ref had a read on him and didnt let it end ugly. Disagree completely that Kownacki was remotely impressive or that he and Ruiz would be a good fight though, Andy beats the piss out of him imo. Arreola had little besides guts and hurt his hand, but still thought he made it a lot closer than the cards suggested. kownacki fights the way a guy who looks like that generally would, hes just average.
On a side note, it was interesting to see how happily Wilder took to the microphone last night for the fight telecast.
One funny moment was when Kenny Albert was attempting to interview Gervonta Davis between fights, with Wilder standing on the other side. All of sudden Wilder starts interviewing Gervonta solo, and Kenny’s look of surprise was priceless… as he was unable to get in a word edgewise until at the end, where he was finally able to wrap up the interview.
You gotta wonder if Wilder has a future behind the mic after boxing.
Yeh Kownacki did ok with coming forward and showing some pop but I was a bit more surprised to how well Arreola actually listened and tried to implement the instructions of Goosen. I don’t think he won at all but he worked to keep it short inside and obviously worked on defense coming in. Kownacki from here is any ones guess and takes some of the shine off with ‘moral’ victory for Arreola but other than power in both hands and a decent engine for a guy built like a living breathing Shmoo I can’t see him going that far. Right now I think both Ruiz and Wilder get it done against him.
Kownacki isn’t that impressive. He isn’t ready for the top guys in the division. Arreola fought bravely, but he just doesn’t have it anymore. He never really had much of it in the first place.