The Shocker in Brooklyn Leads Off This Week’s Edition of HITS and MISSES

There was plenty of boxing on over the weekend, but the card that got most everyone’s attention was the massive PBC on Fox card on Saturday night featuring Adam Kownacki and Robert Helenius at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Behold the heaviest HITS and MISSES column ever.

HIT – The Nordic Nightmare’s Epic Fourth-Round Knockout

When heavyweight Robert Helenius was first coming onto the scene over a decade ago, he was viewed by some as the potential foil for Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. That never played out, but Helenius did at least enjoy a long career of contention in boxing’s most important division, albeit one marred by the fighter usually losing to anyone anywhere near the world level. But the 36-year-old scored a devastating knockout over Adam Kownacki over the weekend in a fun fight that should at least help vault the Finnish fighter into another big TV fight soon. Anytime a former contender in the latter part of his career can score an upset win to stave off having to get a job outside of boxing, that’s a very good thing.

MISS – Professional Boxing’s Body Positivity Movement 

Just a year ago, boxing was singing praises about everyman Andy Ruiz dethroning Anthony Joshua, and it lent itself nicely to the idea that body shapes and sizes don’t really matter all that much. What matters more is how one fights in the ring. While the latter is verifiably true, what’s also true is that being leaner and faster in boxing usually trumps being heavier and slower. Kownacki sure can fight, but one wonders now after seeing him suffer his first professional loss to Helenius how much better the 30-year-old might have been had he been in a little better shape. The same could be said for Joey Dawejko, who lost via unanimous decision to Frank Sanchez on the televised undercard. Both Kownacki and Dawejko can fight. But might they fight a little better carrying a lot less weight?

HIT – Frank Sanchez’s Cuban Craft 

Sanchez is a 27-year-old Cuban transplant who looked super sharp against Dawejko on the undercard. While he doesn’t appear capable of competing in the highest levels of the sturdy heavyweight division just yet, he, at the least, seems capable of doing that someday. Cuban boxers usually don’t win fans over with how they ply the trade. Fans seem to want more action and less movement than fighters like Sanchez usually offer. But heavyweights have the added luxury of size and power that the smaller Cubans lack. Sanchez might never be the heavyweight champion of the world, but he surely can help add depth to the seemingly already deep division for years to come by becoming the next Cuban heavyweight contender in boxing. Is he Luis Ortiz? Probably not. But he’s big, young, strong and crafty. Sanchez has serious potential.

MISS – PBC’s Future (Near-Term) in Boxing’s Glamour Division

Kownacki’s loss was poor timing for the PBC group. Just last year, Deontay Wilder was still undefeated and the PBC seemed to have a steady stream of top-level talent to feed their famed WBC champion for PBC on FOX showcase fights. Wilder would starch his foes, and the knockouts would be seen by millions of people around the world while everyone involved in the whole thing got rich. But with Wilder getting destroyed by Tyson Fury and now Kownacki suffering his career-altering setback to Kownacki, the PBC’s heavyweight division suddenly seems long on fun-fighting palookas and short on elite-level stars. That probably isn’t what the company had in mind.

HIT – Future (Long-Term) Heavyweight Champion Efe Ajagba 

The saving grace for Al Haymon’s group, at least in terms of the observable present, is Efe Ajagba. The 25-year-old Nigerian-born super athlete appears to be capable of huge things in the sport. Ajagba’s combination of size, strength and sheer athleticism are things that can’t be taught. But the better news is that he is being taught the rest of it by top-flight trainer Ronnie Shields, and there’s been a noticeable improvement over his last few fights to the point that he’s starting to look like a future champ. Ajagba isn’t quite ready to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua just yet. But give him two solid years of seasoning under Shields’ tutelage, and he’ll be ready to take over the whole world.

Photo credit: Sean Michael Ham / Premier Boxing Champions

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