Adam Kownacki vs Ali Eren Demirezen July 30th

Cool, 3rd loss. Underrated Ali by KO, late rounds.

 

The Russell Barthelemy fight is intriguing.

If he beats Barthelemy, there really isn't a whole lot left before hes fighting top 10 guys.

 

Danny Garcia v Jose Benavidez on this bill aswell.

 

Hmm, curious, he turned down the Chisora fight for this?

Devil's advocate: He is looking to rebuild and come again.

Cynic in me: Before being fed to a PBC fighter

 

The Turk has a couple decent names on his belt, and he went 10 rounds with Ajagba.

This will be a tough fight for both guys.

 

Not a bad matchup for Kownacki.

Pretty good take, IMO. It's also possible that Kownacki wasn't near in shape for a July 9th date

I think Kownacki is auditioning for Wilder's comeback fight. He wouldn't get it with two consecutive losses on his CV. I suspect he's competing for that assignment with Demirezen and Andy Ruiz Jr.

Demirezen is a different sort of fighter than Helenius. He's more of a pressure guy who's always looking to back you up, whereas Helenius is a big, rangey boxer-puncher type.

 

Not a bad fight.

But why is he not fighting Chisora ? It would be a lot bigger name of his resume for comeback

 

The loss to Ajagba didn't age well for Demirezen. Ajagba turned out to be a total fraud who can't box to save his life. But Kownacki can't box too. He's getting dragged into a firefight again i assume. Luckily Demirezen isn't as big of a puncher as Helenius was. Kownacki probably outworks him to an UD.

 

Ajagba had a 7-inch reach advantage over Sanchez and still wasn't able to land anything at all. Not even the jab. Even against a guy like Sanchez who is constantly moving and running you'd expect at least some close rounds with such a big advantage at HW. But the fight wasn't close, it was just one way traffic and a beatdown at times.

I saw Ali live a few times when he boxed in Germany early in his career and i just don't think he really hits hard. He's more about volume and a decent engine. Most of his stoppages were TKOs when the opponents (or should i say cans and cab drivers) had nothing left in the tank after 1 or 2 rounds. I saw him fighting absolute scrubs with no chin and he couldn't put these guys to sleep. He beat Washington...yeah...but let's be honest: 1. He didn't drop Washington once 2. Washington was gassed as **** after winning the first two rounds 3. Washington quit and gave Buddy a sign to throw the towel after his eye was swollen. He wasn't even taking a lot of damage prior to the stoppage. He was just gassed and could barely stand upright. It was a lumbering and rather clumsy performance from Ali.

Ya Ali took a few rounds off Ajagba and i knew he would last the full 10 rounds with him as Ali has a granite chin but still he's more of a plodder with some more nuances in his game than other guys with a similar style. I still believe those two (Ali and Kownacki) are pretty similar stylistically albeit i think Ali is a bit more technical and has better defense. It's still a much better matchup for Kownacki than Helenius was. Ali is about my height, maybe a little bit taller and Kownacki shouldn't have any issues with the reach and height this time. We saw Kownacki struggling with height and reach against STRAIGHT punchers like Martin and Helenius. Ali isn't that straight with his punches, he likes to fight in close(r) range with a high guard. Kownacki should be able to outwork him.

Saying all that...there is obviously the concern with his punch resistance after two tough losses like that. Helenius absolutely smashed him and we don't know if Kownacki might go down from the first decent punch that lands. So while i wouldn't rule out a W for Demirezen, i think it's more likely that he's getting outworked in close range in a competitive fight and loses a 97-93 type of decision.

 

Aside from his chin possibly being cracked there's an issue with Kownacki's mentality. He was afraid to let his hands go against Helenius because he no longer trusted his chin. He found a way out and was talking about retirement if he lost before the rematch. He looked very unhealthy in some interviews too, not just his typical obesity but like he was struggling to breathe and he was definitely depressed. Will his mental state have improved or declined further after his second humiliating loss, where he blatantly quit to the wide underdog who smashed him to bits and took his 0 in their first fight? Will his heart even be fully in winning what would be a punishing 10 round distance fight, knowing there's a good chance he'll be fed to Wilder and brutally KO'd if he comes through it?

I don't know what Demirezen's promotional situation is like but he seems to be the hungrier and more confident fighter, has a good amateur background, has fought in 6 different nations as a pro, is fresher and is more durable, maybe much more durable (his only loss being a competitive distance fight in his first step up against a hard-hitting SHW big favourite). He's got 4 inches of reach on Kownacki, is on a 5 win streak and has had 15 full rounds of action against former world HW title challengers since Kownacki last fought in October.

Demirezen is a relatively light puncher but he's still a 250-260 lbs HW with 13 inside the distance wins in 17 fights (all within 8 rounds) and this is only his 2nd fight where he has 10 rounds to stop his opponent. He notably cracked Yoka's chin in 5 in the WSB, which heavy-handed SHW Bakole wasn't able to do over 10.

 

Barthelemey is step down from postol.

 

Good match up for the baby faced one. A win and he's back in the frame.