Polish boxer Adam Kownacki lost to his Finnish nemesis Robert Helenius during a rematch in Las Vegas on Saturday/Sunday night.

The fight was stopped by the referee in the sixth round, which on one hand means that Kownacki lasted longer than during his March 2020 encounter with Helenius in New York when the fight had been ended in the fourth round, but on the other this time the Pole’s performance was much worse than at that time.

In Las Vegas, the tokens of the upcoming debacle were visible already in the first round, when Helenius immediately gained a foothold delivering problematic blows at Kownacki. One of the blows brought out a nasty swelling of the Pole’s eye. The injury would deteriorate, shutting off Kownacki’s vision in the affected eye.

Long story short, the Finnish boxer was more active and planted more accurate blows.

Apart from receiving many punches, Kownacki also got a penalty of one point deduction in the fifth round for hitting his adversary below the belt. The ugly situation recurred, which prompted the referee to discontinue the fight.

The decision resulted in initial confusion as to the official reason that brought it about. Firstly, Kownacki had been disqualified but when the official verdict was announced it was said that he lost by a technical KO but then another statement was made about Kownacki’s incapability to continue the fight.

The highlight of the night was the face-off between the UK’s Tyson Fury (31-0-1, 22 KO) and American Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KO). Fury KOed his opponent in the 11th round.