Adam Kownacki might be finished as an elite fighter.
Ali Eren Demirezen, a former Olympian from Turkey, outworked Kownacki to win a unanimous decision in a 10-round heavyweight fight on the Danny Garcia-Jose Benavidez Jr. card Saturday at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, Kownacki’s hometown.
The scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94. Boxing Junkie scored it 97-93 for Demirezen, seven rounds to three.
Kownacki (20-3, 15 KOs) has now lost three consecutive times after being stopped by Robert Helenius in back-to-back fights.
The Polish-American controlled the first two rounds with his volume punching. However, Demirezen (17-1, 12 KOs) picked up his pace in Round 3 and outworked Kownacki the rest of the way.
Demirezen not only threw slightly more punches than Kownacki but he also landed the cleaner, eye-catching shots, at least to the head. Kownacki had a lot of success to the body, although not enough to slow down his opponent.
Demirezen has won six consecutive fights since he lost a decision to Efe Ajagba in July 2019. He was fighting in New York for the first time.
“I truly love fighting in the U.S. and I love New York, so I said before you will see me more,” said Demirezen, who is based in Germany. “I was nervous because he’s a strong fighter and I could have been much better, but it’s my first time here and he’d fought here before.”
Kownacki implied before the fight that he might retire if he didn’t have his hand raised Saturday. However, after the fight, he said he doesn’t want to go out on a third consecutive loss.
“I have two kids,” he said. “I’ll have a long talk with my wife to see what I want to do. I’ve had so many fights here, so many great memories, I don’t want to go out like a loser. I would like another fight to leave my fans with a win.”
Meanwhile, the victory was the biggest of Demirezen’s career. The 2016 Olympian is now a step closer to realizing of his dream of becoming the first heavyweight champion from his country.
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