NEW YORK – In hindsight, Robert Helenius is thrilled that referee David Fields missed his first knockdown of Adam Kownacki on Saturday night.

Backed against the ropes, Helenius hit Kownacki with a left-right combination that dropped Kownacki to one knee 20 seconds into the fourth round of their scheduled 12-round main event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. A stunned Kownacki popped right to his feet after suffering the first knockdown of his career, which led to the previously unbeaten heavyweight contender losing by technical knockout shortly thereafter.

Fields, who appeared to have a clear view of that sequence, ruled that Kownacki slipped to the canvas. The action resumed immediately, instead of Fields counting due to what should’ve been ruled a knockdown.

Without any additional time to try to recuperate, Helenius was able to quickly catch Kownacki with another combination – this time a right, then a left. Those two shots sent an already woozy Kownacki flat on his back just 10 seconds after he went down to one knee.

“It was a good benefit for me because he didn’t get the count,” Helenius told a group of reporters following his fourth-round TKO victory. “And I knew he was wobbly, because I was there, you know? I was there.”

Helenius isn’t sure what would’ve happened had Kownacki been given the extra time to clear his head while Fields counted.

“I saw him hurt,” Helenius said. “I felt him hurt, so of course, if he would’ve gotten [a] 10 count, then he maybe would’ve recovered better.”

Once Fields brought them together following the first official knockdown, Helenius attacked a wobbly Kownacki. He hit the popular Polish fighter with several flush punches that worsened Kownacki’s condition, moved him across the ring and eventually prompted Fields to step between them to stop the fight.

Kownacki was still standing when Fields ended their bout 1:08 into the fourth round.

Most Internet sports books had installed the 30-year-old Kownacki (20-1, 15 KOs) as at least a 25-1 favorite to defeat Finland’s Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs) in their WBA elimination match. Seven months earlier, the 36-year-old Helenius lost by eighth-round knockout to Gerald Washington (20-4-1, 13 KOs), whom Kownacki beat by second-round TKO in Washington’s prior appearance. 

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