UNBEATEN heavyweights are always a valuable commodity in the heavyweight division and a zero can take even a mediocre fighter a long way.
Adam Kownacki, the latest heavyweight to emerge from Poland, seems a cut above your average unbeaten contender and is ambitious with it. According to his manager, Keith Connolly, the 29-year-old is ready to face Deontay Wilder, the WBC world heavyweight champion, as early as December.
“That’s the plan,” Connolly told Sky Sports. “The plan is to fight Wilder in December or January. But if he fights Joshua, obviously that’s out of the window, and then we would have to wait.
“Wilder met with DAZN. I have no idea how those talks went, or if they’re serious about doing the [Joshua] fight. But if they don’t, Adam is right in line there. Al Haymon and I have talked, and that’s the plan.”
Brooklyn-based Kownacki is 19-0 (15) so far as a pro and recently secured decent-looking wins against the likes of Gerald Washington and former IBF champion Charles Martin. Wilder likes fighting in Brooklyn, Kownacki fights out of Brooklyn, so the pairing would seem to be a natural one, especially if Wilder fails to secure fights against Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury.
In fact, at a time when it’s very much a case of The Big Three and then the rest, the presence of a game and hungry contender like Adam Kownacki is a welcome one.
You know you’ve made it when your local brewery names a beer after you and Glenn McCrory, the former IBF cruiserweight champion of the world, will be in the privileged position of being able to drink an ‘Our Hero’ pale ale at The Grey Horse pub, in Sherburn Terrace, Consett, on April 8
The 3.8 per cent traditional English pale ale will be launched by Consett Ale Works and commemorates the 30th anniversary of McCrory’s cruiserweight title win on June 3, 1989.
That night, McCrory boxed in front of 1,500 people at the Louisa Centre in Stanley and defeated Kenya’s Patrick Lumumba over 12 rounds to take the title, becoming the first person from the region to hold a world title.
David Wilkinson at Consett Ale Works said: “Glenn is a sporting superstar hailing from north-west Durham, so it was a no-brainer to celebrate his brilliant achievement to link in with the 30th anniversary of his victory and Carrying David [a one-man comedy-drama outlining McCrory’s rise and the role the boxer’s terminally-ill brother David played in that historical feat].
“Here at Consett Ale Works we brew beers to celebrate the region’s industrial heritage of shipbuilding, coal and steelmaking which have forged the backbone of our proud northern landscape. Glenn is a product of that wonderful heritage. His father was a Consett steel worker and his four uncles were miners in local pits.”
McCrory said: “I joined Consett Sports Centre boxing club aged 12 and my amateur boxing debut took place on October 6, 1979, in Witton Gilbert working men’s club – a fortnight after my 15th birthday. Great memories.
“I trained in Consett for the world title fight – running the Consett Moors every day with my wonderful trainer Alan Walker who still lives in Castleside. I even ran a pub there.
“I’m delighted Consett Ale Works are brewing a beer to commemorate the world title. It’s a canny pint, as well.”
