Fast Results from Brooklyn: Kownacki Outslugs Arreola; Pascal Upsets Browne

Tonight’s PBC card in Brooklyn included a title fight. Marcus Browne, a regular here at Barclays Center – this was his 13^th appearance – risked his interim WBA 175-pound title against former world titlist Jean Pascal. But all the buzz was about the heavyweight match between Adam Kownacki and Chris Arreola. It promised fireworks galore for as long as it lasted.

Surprisingly, it went the full 12 without any knockdowns. But it yet delivered on the promised fireworks. Both fighters were credited with throwing more than 1000 punches, said to be a CompuBox record for a heavyweight fight. What made that more remarkable is that Arreola appeared to break his left hand somewhere around the seventh round.

Early on, the fight invited comparisons to the Foreman-Lyle classic of 1976. But the second half of the fight wasn’t as good as the first as the pace slowed a bit and it became one-sided in Kownacki’s favor.

Arreola, a 38-year-old warhorse, was game to the end and actually finished the fight a tad stronger than his 30-year-old opponent, but Kownacki, who had the crowd in his corner, had dished out more punishment and was judged the winner by scores of 118-110 and 117-111 twice.

It was the 20^th victory without a defeat for Adam Kownacki who is being groomed for a fight with WBC champion Deontay Wilder. Arreola, who slipped to 38-6-1 with 2 no-decisions, is a rough customer but would be wise to consider retirement.

Browne-Pascal

The co-feature produced an upset when Pascal was awarded the decision in a bout halted in the eighth round after a clash of heads left Browne with a bad gash over his left eye. He left the ring before the decision. Although Pascal landed roughly half as many punches, he left the ring a winner by identical scores of 75-74. It was the first pro loss for Browne who entered the contest undefeated with 16 KOs among his 23 wins.

Take away two big rounds for Pascal – the fourth and the seventh – and Browne had all the best of it. In the fourth, the Quebecois by way of Haiti scored a clean knockdown. In the seventh he knocked Browne to the canvas twice, the second coming right before the bell.

This was a remarkable turnaround in the career of the 36-year-old Pascal, whose last win over a world-class fighter came five years ago when he outpointed fellow Canadian Lucien Bute. Pascal, who advanced to 34-6-1 (21 KOs) had talked about retirement but is now well-positioned for another good payday, likely a rematch with Marcus Browne.

Omotoso-Stevens

The opener of the PBC telecast was a 10-round junior middleweight contest between Curtis Stevens and Wale Omotoso.

Stevens, from the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, had fought only once since suffering a brutal knockout at the hands of David Lemieux, that coming last year in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic where he halted a local man in a fight that lasted four rounds. Stevens, who began his career as a light heavyweight, entered the ring at a career-low 153 ¾. And, as Steve Collins Jr. learned earlier today in Belfast, sometimes a big drop in weight can have bad consequences.

Omotoso, from Oxnard, Calif, by way of Nigeria, was just too strong for Stevens. He knocked the Brooklynite down in each of the first three rounds, and with punches that didn’t appear to be especially hard. The ref called it off following the third knockdown. Omotoso, who had lost three of his previous five coming in, improved to 28-4 (21). Stevens falls to 30-7.

Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp / TCB Promotions

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