The Hauser Report…Kownacki-Helenius: That’s Why They Fight the Fights

Published

5 years ago

March 8, 2020

The-Hauser-Report-Kownacki-Helenius-That's-Why-They-Fight-The-Fights

On March 7, FOX offered viewers a heavyweight tripleheader from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Frank Sanchez (14-0, 11 KOs), who came out of the Cuban amateur system, was a 10-to-1 favorite over Joey Dawejko (20-7-4, 11 KOs). Efe Ajagba (12-0, 10 KOs), a Nigerian Olympian now living in Texas, was a 30-to-1 favorite over Razvan Cojanu (17-6, 9 KOs). And Adam Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs) was listed at 20-to-1 over 36-year-old Robert Helenius (29-3, 18 KOs).

Things went according to plan. Until they didn’t.

Sanchez, age 27, has been matched professionally against a series of limited opponents. Dawejko, who comes from the Andy Ruiz school of physical conditioning, fit that mold. He’s generously listed as 5-feet-10-inches tall and weighed-in for the bout at 247 pounds. He’d also lost three of four fights since 2017.

Don Elbaum promoted Dawejko early in Joey’s ring career. At one point, Elbaum thought he might be a prospect Then Dawejko struggled through a stretch when he won once in five fights against ordinary opposition, and Elbaum realized that he’d never get beyond being a club fighter.

Still, Elbaum respects Dawejko. “Let me tell you something,” he says. “Joey’s not afraid of anybody. Maybe he should be, but he isn’t. Joey always gives you everything he has trying to win.”

Against Sanchez, everything that Dawejko had wasn’t enough. The fight resembled a sparring session. Sanchez, who lacks power but can box, settled into a safety-first, jab-and-move mode. Dawejko plodded forward but rarely landed cleanly and didn’t have the power to hurt Sanchez on the all-too-few occasions when he did hit him.

CompuBox credited Sanchez with outlanding Dawejko by a 116-to-46 margin. Mystifyingly, judge Kevin Morgan gave rounds one and ten to Joey. Those were the only rounds that Dawejko won on any of the judges’ scorecards.

Put Dawejko in the ring with a guy like Dawejko and it will be a good fight. Put him in the ring with a guy like Sanchez and it will be a stinker.

Ajagba vs. Cojanu was next up.

Ajagba, age 25, has fought the usual suspects. Cojanu, a 33-year-old Romanian now living in California, has beaten one fighter with a winning record in the past five years and has now lost five of his last six outings while being knocked out in four of them.

In the early rounds, Ajagba kept jabbing and trying to set up his right hand. He has a somewhat wooden style that suggests a fighter who’s boxing by the numbers. Cojanu fights in slow motion, throws wide punches, and leans forward, chin out, when he throws them. By round five, there were scattered boos from the crowd. In the press section, more people than usual were checking their smart phones for messages.

Then, in round six, Cojanu tired and Ajagba started landing consistently. By round eight, Razvan was exhausted and dropped to the canvas from an accumulation of blows. That would have been a good time to stop the fight, but referee Ron Lipton chose not to. So Cojanu took an ugly beating until dropping to one knee at the 2:46 mark of round nine when Lipton waved off the carnage. Ajagba had a 244-to-83 advantage in punches landed.

That set the stage for Kownacki-Helenius.

Kownacki who will turn 31 on March 27, is a likeable man with a crowd-pleasing “hit me, and then I’ll hit you back, and then we’ll hit each other some more” style. In recent years, he has fought a series of overmatched opponents while (some would say) being readied as a sacrificial lamb with the intention of serving him to Deontay Wilder.

Tyson Fury’s February 22 knockout victory over Wilder was a setback for Kownacki. Adam had passed on an opportunity to fight Anthony Joshua for what might have been a huge payday at Madison Square Garden last June. Now any world title fight was on a distant horizon.

Helenius, who was born in Sweden and fights out of Finland, was regarded as a “safe” opponent for Kownacki.

Ten years ago, “The Nordic Nightmare” was being groomed as a prospect himself. He beat Lamon Brewster, Samuel Peter, and Sergiy Liakhovich at a time when they’d been reduced to non-threatening opponents and won a controversial split decision over Dereck Chisora in Finland while Chisora was in the midst of a stretch that saw him lose four of five fights. More recently, Helenius had lasted twelve rounds against Dillian Whyte but lost eleven of them. He’d been knocked out by Johann Duhaupas and (eight months ago) Gerald Washington.

Kownacki matches up poorly against slick boxers. Helenius was once described as having the footwork of a stalagmite.

“Beating him doesn’t really do a lot for me,” Kownacki acknowledged at the final pre-fight press conference, “because I’m a big favorite in this fight.”

The crowd at Barclays Center was wholeheartedly behind Kownacki. This was his fifth fight in a row at the venue.

Adam had weighed in for the bout at 265 pounds (one under his career high); Helenius, a trimmer 238.

Earlier in the week, Cliff Rold had made a good point, writing about Kownacki (a volume puncher without much defense), “Watching boxing is supposed to be fun. That’s really the bottom line, isn’t it? A fun fighter is still something to look forward to. Everyone isn’t necessarily going to be the future of their division, a future great, a legacy carver, or any of the other things that can distract from the root of why fans devote time and attention to the sweet science. Saturday night against Helenius, no matter how long it lasts, we’re going to see some leather fly. Isn’t that really all we’re asking for?”

Kownacki won round one against Helenius by coming forward and throwing punches while Robert jabbed ineffectively and held. Round two was closer with Helenius inclined to trade and throwing the straighter punches. The third stanza belonged to Kownacki. He was throwing more and getting off first, outlanding Helenius by a 28-to-8 margin. Then . . .

Twenty seconds into round four, Kownacki got whacked with a straight right hand followed by a stiff jab that sent him to the canvas. He rose immediately, and referee David Fields incorrectly ruled it a slip. That call was soon academic.

Kownacki had been shaken. Five seconds after the action resumed, Helenius dropped him with a straight right hand followed by a left hook up top. Adam was on his feet at the count of three. This time, though, his legs were wobbly. Helenius battered him around the ring, and Fields halted the battle 68 seconds into the round.

Helenius had more left as a fighter than Kownacki and his team had realized. They disrespected him as an opponent and paid the price.

A little more than three months ago, Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz – both Premier Boxing Champions fighters – held all four heavyweight championship belts. And Kownacki was in line for a huge title-bout payday.

After losing to Helenius, Adam was reduced to saying, “It wasn’t my night. It’s boxing. Things just didn’t go my way tonight. He hit me with a good shot. I knew what was going on. I’m just upset with myself. It is what it is.”

There are two morals to the story:

(1) Things can change very quickly in boxing.

(2) A fighter should never go into the ring thinking he has an easy fight ahead of him. In boxing, despite the odds, anything can happen.

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book – A Dangerous Journey: Another Year Inside Boxing – was published by the University of Arkansas Press. In 2004, the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism. On June 14, 2020, he will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / TGB Promotions

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

3 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

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Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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