NEW YORK – Whether Adam Kownacki gets a shot at redemption is entirely up to Robert Helenius and this team.

There isn’t a rematch clause in their contracts for their fight Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, thus Helenius can go in a different direction if he doesn’t want to face Kownacki again in his next bout. Helenius will be presented plenty of opportunities now that he has recorded his most significant win in recent years by upsetting the previously unbeaten Kownacki.

“You know, I have to think about it,” said Helenius, who stopped Kownacki in the fourth round. “Like I said, I have to take a couple days off and relax. I’ve been training like a crazy dog for many, many months now and I need a break. You know, just a couple weeks, be with the family and doing nothing.”

While noncommittal on the possibility of an immediate rematch, the 36-year-old Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs) mentioned facing Kownacki a second time in Finland, Helenius’ homeland.

“I think the crowd treated me unfairly,” a laughing Helenius said in reference to the passionate, pro-Kownacki crowd of 8,811 at Barclays Center. “That’s normal. If we take the fight back to Finland and make a rematch there, probably the crowd in Finland would treat him the same way.”

The 30-year-old Kownacki was consistently listed as at least a 25-1 favorite to beat Helenius in a 12-round WBA elimination match FOX televised as the main event of a three-bout broadcast.

The 6-feet-3, 265¼-pound Kownacki (20-1, 15 KOs) was wearing down a fast-tiring Helenius before his 6-feet-6, 238¾-pound opponent hurt him with a left-right combination that knocked Kownacki to one knee 20 seconds into the fourth round. Referee David Fields missed the punches Helenius landed and didn’t count that as a knockdown, but a woozy Kownacki couldn’t remain on his feet much longer.

A right-left combination sent Kownacki flat on his back just 10 seconds after he went to one knee. The gutsy Kownacki got right to his feet again, but an opportunistic Helenius unloaded an array of flush punches that backed a defenseless Kownacki into the ropes.

Fields stopped their fight 1:08 into the fourth round because Kownacki was hurt and unable to throw punches back at Helenius.

“It’s no rematch clause, but hopefully we can make it again,” Kownacki said. “I don’t wanna go out like this. It’s a learning experience, right? … It sucks, but it comes with the territory.” 

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