By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Joe Goossen has been working with Chris Arreola on being more effective defensively.

Even Arreola’s trainer knows, though, that once Arreola and Adam Kownacki start trading punches Saturday night that their main event inevitably will develop into a slugfest fans won’t soon forget. The veteran trainer fully expects those two heavyweights to produce one of the best action fights of 2019 when they square off at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“I consider this a candidate, without it even being fought yet, for ‘Fight of the Year,’ ” Goossen told BoxingScene.com during an open workout Wednesday at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. “I think that’s what we’re gonna see. I could be wrong. I doubt it. I believe that you’ve got two guys of similar mind, body. They’re both big guys. They’re both highly aggressive. Neither one of them takes a step backward, normally. They throw caution to the wind. They might neglect a little defense for a high-powered offense. So, when you’ve got two guys that can really bomb out, they’re heavyweights and they both have great chins, that, to me, turns it into a can’t-miss fight.”

Brooklyn’s Kownacki (19-0, 15 KOs) is a heavy favorite over Arreola (38-5-1, 33 KOs, 2 NC), who’s 38 and has been stopped three times. Goossen still likes his veteran fighter’s chances of pulling off an upset and doesn’t think their 12-round fight will go the distance.

“There’s gonna be a knockout,” Goossen said. “There’s no doubt about it. There’s no way this fight is going the distance. I think this is going to be a knock-down, drag-out type of fight. It’ll be a great fight for the fans. It’ll be everything you wanna see with big guys. You don’t wanna see big guys pussyfoot around. I think it’s gonna be a great, great fight – for the fans, for TV, for FOX.”

In addition to the Kownacki-Arreola fight, FOX will air a 12-round, 175-pound title bout between WBA interim champion Marcus Browne (23-0, 16 KOs), of nearby Staten Island, and Jean Pascal (33-6-1, 20 KOs, 1 NC), a former WBC champ from Laval, Quebec. In the opener of FOX’s three-bout broadcast, Brooklyn’s Curtis Stevens (30-6, 22 KOs) is set to box Nigeria’s Wale Omotoso (27-4, 21 KOs, 1 NC) in a 10-round junior middleweight match.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.