By Lem Satterfield

Unbeaten heavyweight Adam “Babyface” Kownacki estimates he’s sparred “more than a thousand rounds” with 6-foot-4, 300-plus-pound Brooklyn, New York, native Jarrell “Baby” Miller, the man he’ll train with for his January 26 clash with Gerald Washington at Barclays Center in Brooklyn as Premier Boxing Champions returns to FOX  (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT.).

The 6-foot-3 Kownacki (18-0, 14 KOs) meets the 6-foot-6 Washington (19-2-1, 12 KOs) on the undercard of WBA “super” welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) ending a 22-month, injury-caused ring absence with his eighth defense and third straight and fourth overall appearance at Barclays against third-time title challenger Josesito Lopez  (36-7, 19 KOs).

Kownacki is 7-0 with four knockouts at Barclays, where his last fight was September’s unanimous decision over left-handed former world champion Charles Martin (25-2-1, 23 KOs) before his boisterous partisan Polish fans. Kownacki’s “Babyface” moniker belies the 29-year-old’s aggressive approach to the ring, where his run of four straight knockouts ended against Martin.

"I wish I could have gotten a knockout, but I was fighting a southpaw who was a former world champion, and I believe that I demonstrated I'm a top contender. But I’m very excited to be returning to Barclays, where my first fight as a swing bout after the main event,”

“What I remember about that night is that I still had 300 or 400 friends and family there supporting me even after everyone else had left. Now I'm the co-main event, and, hopefully, I can be the main event one of these days."

The 36-year-old Washington returns to the site of his eighth-round TKO loss to Miller in July 2017, having rebounded with June’s unanimous decision over 6-foot-6 John Wesley Nofire (20-2, 16 KOs). Prior to Miller, Washington was stopped in the fifth round by 6-foot-7 WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) in February 2017.

A Polish-born Brooklyn resident since childhood, Kownacki earned New York Golden Gloves championships in 2006 and 2009 in addition to finishing second in 2007 and 2008 as an amateur.

Kownacki said he began sparring at the age of 15 with Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs), a 30-year-old who has stopped 11 of his past 12 opponents and who is pursuing a title shot against 6-foot-6  IBF/WBA/WBO titleholder Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs).

“I started sparring with Baby Miller probably when I was 15 and he was 16, and we’ve done it through the amateurs and the golden gloves,” said Kownacki.

“I know [Miller] was in the UK last week, so he should be back this week. We’ve probably done more than a thousand rounds together, and it’s always great work.”

Martin followed Kownacki’s one-knockdown, fourth-round TKO of left-handed former title challenger Artur Szpilka in July 2017 and his sixth-round knockout of previously once-beaten Iago Kiladze in January.

The stoppage of Szpilka was quicker than Kownacki’s Polish countryman was dispatched by both Wilder and title challenger Bryant Jennings in the ninth and 10th rounds, and Kiladze’s streak of six straight wins, five by knockout, was ended.

To prepare for Martin, Kownacki sparred with 6-foot-6, 265-pound southpaw Zhilei Zhang (20-0,16 KOs), a 2008 Chinese Olympic silver medalist with nine straight stoppage victories.

Kownacki has sparred with Wladimir Klitschko and has made a steady climb up the heavyweight contender ladder.

 "The heavyweight division is very competitive, and everybody wants to showcase their talents," said Kownacki. "Everyone knows how I fight: I come forward, bring pressure, work on angles, throw a lot of punches and go for the knockout."