The Show Must Go On
If you’d told us a week ago that we’d be just around the corner from an Anthony Joshua versus Robert Helenius clash, we would have politely suggested you’d lost your marbles given the fact the Brit was preparing for a rematch with Dillian Whyte.
At that point, we’d have been right, but eight days is a very long time in this crazy world of professional boxing as we have recently seen.
After being informed of the news that there were ‘adverse findings’ on Whyte’s VADA test, Joshua could have quite easily thrown a strop and cancelled the whole card. But this is a man on the path of redemption. A man who just a couple of years back was touted as the best heavyweight on the planet prior to losing three of his last six fights. A man who is determined to shut his critics up once and for all.
Standing in the way of Joshua landing a mega-fight against Deontay Wilder is the ‘Nordic Nightmare’ himself, Mr Robert Helenius.
A professional record of 32-4, with 21 of those wins coming by way of stoppage, this is a man who, similarly to AJ, has suffered defeat on multiple occasions, but a man who is also determined to prove that he belongs at the top table of heavyweight boxing.
With defeats to Johann Duhaupas, Whyte, Gerald Washington and, most recently, Deontay Wilder, the Swedish-born Fin has yet to establish himself at the elite level of heavyweight boxing, but a win over Joshua will go a long way towards doing just that.
Having made his return to the ring last Saturday with a third-round stoppage win over the previously unbeaten Mika Mielonen, Helenius is in shape, in form and most importantly, full of confidence.
He will present different challenges to those which would have been posed by Whyte.
For starters, Joshua is going to have to punch up rather than down with Helenius the bigger of the two. It doesn’t sound like too much to worry about but when you have trained for 10 weeks to fight a smaller opponent, it will be a different proposition.
Fortunately for Joshua, fighting taller men has shown to work in his favour, that’s if we are to go by his previous performances.
The two men he has lost to, Oleksandr Usyk and Andy Ruiz, were both substantially smaller than AJ. You can also take into account his performances against the likes of Joseph Parker and Jermaine Franklin who are the only other two fighters to take him the distance.
Compare those performances to those of Joshua against bigger men.
Gary Cornish, dispatched. Dominic Breazeale, dispatched. Wladimir Klitschko, dispatched.
If anything, Helenius could be seen as ideal preparation for a fight with Wilder. A game opponent who would rather come forward to try and take you out than go for a bike ride on the back foot and make you chase them.
You get the feeling that Joshua is in a kind of lose-lose situation on Saturday. Obliterate Helenius inside a round and the whole promotion will get criticised. Get taken past four rounds and the shouts of AJ being finished will grow louder. In reality, we want to see that killer Joshua of old. The one who goes in there with bad intentions and the one who’ll crush you inside the ring and shake your hand outside of it.
This should be relatively light work for AJ but expect to see him start slowly and implement some of the ideas which he has been working on with new trainer Derrick James. However, he can’t afford to be too complacent as we all know what happened the last time he fought an opponent who was brought in at late notice.
Meanwhile, it’s an undercard to cherish with three other heavyweight contests and some of the brightest prospects in British boxing.
Derek Chisora takes on Washington in what is guaranteed to be a firefight whilst Filip Hrgovic fights the undefeated southpaw Demsey McKean in what will likely be a chess match that could explode at any time.
Johnny Fisher will look to win his first title as a professional when he faces the tough Harry Armstrong with Campbell Hatton, Brandon Scott, George Liddard and Maisie-Rose Courtney also featuring.
This weekend also sees us host our first IFL Live event at the Indigo at The O2. Kugan Cassius and Gareth A. Davies will be hosting a live audience with Eddie Hearn, Darren Barker and Johnny Fisher plus stand-up comedy from Dapper Laughs.
Tickets for the event are still available and you can purchase them HERE.
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