PATERSON, N.J. – The heat was up at True Warriors Boxing Club on Thursday afternoon, but there was still an iciness in the air. On separate sides of the 3,000-square-foot converted warehouse, Damian Knyba and Andrzej Wawrzyk each pretended the other didn’t exist as they prepared to perform brief workouts for the dozen or so media members in attendance.
Showdowns between Polish fighters in the same weight class have long been a springboard towards stardom among this passionate fanbase, most notably when Tomasz Adamek kickstarted his run as a heavyweight contender by stopping longtime standard-bearer Andrew Golota in five rounds back in 2009. Knyba, 14-0 (8 KOs), doesn’t feel his 10-round main event fight this Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, against Wawrzyk, 34-4 (20 KOs), rises to that level of significance, but he says it’s a step in the right direction on his road to contention.
He says it isn’t hard for him to find motivation to fight, at least against this particular compatriot.
“I definitely watched his fights when I was starting up,” Knyba, 29, said of Wawrzyk. “In terms of personally, I don’t know him, but I heard some things and he’s not someone that I’m a fan of.”
Asked to expound on what he meant, Knyba added only, “Just his personal behaviors.”
Przemysław Garczarczyk, the preeminent expert on Polish boxing, can understand why there is bad blood. Although the fighters outwardly have some things in common, personality differences set them apart.
“You cannot find more different people than those two,” said Garczarczyk. “Andrzej Wawrzyk and Damian Knyba are two completely different people, inside the ring and outside the ring. Knyba is by far the best Polish heavyweight, and as you know very well, as the heavyweights go, so goes boxing in Poland.
“Many people know Andrzej Wawrzyk – many of them for reasons not connected to boxing. Their eyes will be on this fight.”
Wawrzyk’s trainer, Jeff Wojciechowski, shed some light on the situation, saying that the fighters’ animosity began after Knyba stated in interviews that Wawrzyk, who has been living and training in Sarasota, Florida, for the past eight months, had left Poland because he owed people money, which prompted a series of traded insults between the fighters in Polish media. Wojciechowski says the bad blood is real, but his fighter is ready to leave it behind in the ring.
“He’s just talking stuff, so Andy went back at him,” said Wojciechowski. “It’s good trash-talk, as we say in boxing, and there’s no love here. Yesterday at the press conference, they asked if they would shake hands after the fight. Andy says he will, but this guy said he won’t.
“We are ready for war. We’re gonna put it on him.”
For Knyba, his own immigration story has defined his life in recent years. The 6ft 8in Knyba, who grew up in the small town of Wudzyn, Poland, now lives in Warren, New Jersey. He picked up the sport at the relatively late age of 20 after competing in shot-put and discus throwing in his younger years. He says he always knew he wanted to put on gloves but had to wait for the opportunity to come.
“I always wanted to train boxing and compete,” said Knyba. “I put into perspective the highest achievements I could accomplish in shot-putting and disc throwing; it would never bring the satisfaction and excitement that boxing would. That’s what made me leave my small town to the bigger city, so I could start training.”
Knyba had a brief amateur career of about 30 fights, including a stint in the 2020 New York Golden Gloves that was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. He caught the attention of fellow Polish heavyweight Adam Kownacki after winning the Polish Under-23 Championships in 2019, and was brought to America for the first time to spar with Kownacki.
Now Knyba is managed by Kownacki’s brother, rising promoter Lukasz Kownacki, and is promoted by Top Rank, which has presented him on five cards since December 2022. Since February 2023, he has been trained by Shaun George, the former light heavyweight contender turned trainer who also counts heavyweight contender Zhilei Zhang among his clients.
George says he has worked to improve Knyba’s fundamentals, which include maximizing the use of his 6ft 8in frame and 86in reach. He says it’s been an easier transition than most because of Knyba’s patience and willingness to listen to instructions.
He says that Knyba will be ready soon for the top contenders in the division.
“He’s dedicated, and he’s not afraid of anybody,” said George. “That’s the hardest part: You tell him to box, I gotta stop him from sparring. When I first got him, he was like ‘Why?’ He wanted to spar four days a week to get better, but I said that’s not the whole process. The whole process is understanding what you’re doing, watching the video tape, understanding why you’re working the body, why you’re making this move and he understands that.”
George added that Knyba has held his own in sparring sessions with top heavyweights such as Zhang, Filip Hrgovic and Arslanbek Makhmudov.
“Right now, they’re moving him at the right pace, everything is a process. He doesn’t have an amateur background, he wasn’t taught right early on how to use his height, how to control the distance. There’s a lot of things that he didn’t know when I met him that he’s learning. I’d say give him 2-3 more fights and then you can put him in with anyone you want.”
Saturday’s fight presents Knyba with the opportunity to consolidate his standing as the next torchbearer for Polish boxing, as he headlines for the first time at the same venue where Adamek, the previous star of Polish boxing and former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world titleholder, routinely sold out between 2008-2012.
The fight, which is promoted by PrimeTime Promotions, will air live in Poland on PTV Sport.
Garczarczyk, whose career dates back to the rise of Golota during the 1990s, says the fight is more of a coronation for Knyba than an even showdown, with Wawrzyk, 37, on the back end of his career following losses in three of his past four fights, including a fourth-round knockout in his most recent fight, against Richard Lartey Harrison – whom Knyba knocked out in three rounds in November.
“It’s more about where Knyba is going, because there is no one who follows boxing who has any doubt about how this fight is gonna end,” said Garczarczyk. “Knyba is knocking him out; the question is, how fast?”
The fighters had one last chance to meet eye-to-eye on Friday, when they stepped on to the scales for the official weigh-in. Knyba towered over the 6ft 5in Wawrzyk as he checked in at 263lbs, while Wawrzyk came in at the heaviest weight of his 19-year career, at 249lbs.
The two locked eyes in an extended staredown, with Wawrzyk refusing to look away for several seconds after the two were asked to stare ahead to pose for photos.
Knyba added that he doesn’t believe this will yet be his defining fight. He said it’s just another step along the way on his path towards contention.
“This is more of a great promotional fight for me,” Knyba said. “The Poland-versus-Poland fights bring out bigger crowds and I want to show myself in front of as many Polish fans as possible to gain the support as the next big thing here.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
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