Adam Kownacki (20-0) faces Robert Helenius (29-3) this Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Kownacki burst into the heavyweight scene in 2017 when he upset Artur Szpilka and knocked him out in 4 rounds. Since then he has recorded impressive victories against Gerald Washington, Chris Arreola and most notably former heavyweight champion Charles Martin. Kownacki is in good spirits and he has a lot of momentum going for him. Robert Helenius on the other hand, does not have a lot of momentum going for him and he will soon be 37 years old. He looks to be at least 2-3 years removed from his prime. In his 3 losses he has been stopped twice and in both of those occasions he was the favorite going in. First in 2016 against Johann Duhaupas on home soil in Finland, he was knocked out in the 6th round and then last year against Gerald Washington, he was knocked out in the 8th round. He was doing okay in both of those fights, especially against Washington where he was up on the score cards with only 2 rounds left before he got caught. The thing about Helenius that makes him vulnerable is his defense which is bad to begin with and when he gets tired in the 2nd half of the fights, it gets even worse. It is like his reflexes completely leaves him and he is left there standing with next to no head movement and vulnerable looking. Now don´t get us all wrong, he still can be dangerous with his own offense, especially his right hand and he is a big guy so it is not a walk in the park to face him. One of Kownacki´s best attributes is his ability to stay in range and fire of a lot of punches and he can do this for 12 rounds and still be looking strong late in fights. (Sign in for our prediction & pick)
If Kownacki doesn´t catch Helenius with something big in the first 2 rounds, he will wear him down and stop him later in the fight. Either way, we see Kownacki getting to Helenius sooner or later in the fight and stopping him. The Pick is Adam Kownacki to win this fight by ko/tko for a price of -400 (1.25 decimal odds)