Adam Kownacki came in only slightly lighter Friday than he weighed for his previous fight.

The 6-feet-3 Kownacki weighed 265¼ pounds when he stepped on the New York State Athletic Commission’s scale for his 12-round bout against Robert Helenius on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Kownacki weighed a career-high 266 pounds the day before he encountered Chris Arreola on August 3 at Barlcays Center.

The 30-year-old Kownacki told BoxingScene.com before their weigh-in Friday at The Tillary Hotel in Brooklyn that he felt too heavy when he went up against the 6-feet-3, 244-pound Arreola (38-6-1, 33 KOs, 1 NC).

Kownacki (20-0, 15 KOs) won that fan-friendly, 12-round battle by unanimous decision. The popular Polish fighter threw 1,047 punches in that bout, but the Brooklyn-bred heavyweight contender thinks he made it harder than necessary by not being in better condition.

Finland’s Helenius weighed in at 238½ pounds Friday. The 6-feet-6 Helenius was nearly five pounds lighter than for his last meaningful fight, an eighth-round, technical knockout loss to Gerald Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs) on July 13 in Minneapolis.

Kownacki, who’s a 25-1 favorite over the 36-year-old Helenius, stopped Washington in the second round of their January 2019 bout at Barclays Center.

FOX will televise Kownacki-Helenius as the main event of a three-fight telecast that’ll start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Earlier Friday, unbeaten Nigerian prospect Efe Ajagba officially weighed 242½ pounds for his 10-round heavyweight fight against Romania’s Razvan Cojanu, who weighed in at 255½ pounds. FOX will show the Ajagba-Cojanu contest immediately prior to Kownacki-Helenius.

Handicappers have installed the 25-year-old, 6-feet-6 Ajagba (12-0, 10 KOs) as a 50-1 favorite to beat the 6-feet-7½ Cojanu (17-6, 9 KOs), a 32-year-old veteran who has been knocked out three times.

Also Friday, Cuban heavyweight prospect Frank Sanchez (14-0, 11 KOs) weighed in at 222¼ pounds for his 10-rounder versus Joey Dawejko on Saturday night. Philadelphia’s Dawejko (20-7-4, 11 KOs) was 25 pounds heavier than Sanchez, 247½ pounds, when he got on the NYSAC’s scale.

Most Internet sports books have made Sanchez a 10-1 favorite. Sanchez-Dawejko will open FOX’s broadcast. 

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