Robert Helenius is the man to have got the nod to step up as a late replacement for Dillian Whyte against Anthony Joshua this weekend but one man on the same card has already floored the Nordic Nightmare.
Despite boxing just last weekend, Helenius is stepping into he ring again this Saturday for arguably the biggest, and potentially best paid, fight of his career.
His best wins have come against the once highly touted Adam Kownacki, who he knocked out twice in back to back fights, and he’s also beaten former Wladmir and Vitali Klitschko opponent Samuel Peter and win a split decision against Dereck Chisora back in 2011.
More recently, he famous got laid out in a round against Deontay Wilder in October last yeaar and took a unanimous points loss to Whyte back in October 2017 on the undercard of Joshua versus Carlos Takam.
The undercard of this weekend’s fight at the O2 Arena also has a name Helenius would rather forget. In July 2019, the Finnish fighter was knocked out by Gerald Washington’s right hand in the eighth round at the Armoury in Minneapolis.
As some have pointed out on Twitter, that right hand is something Washington’s weekend opponent, Derek Chisora, will have to watch out for.
As such Helenius has a mixed record that suggests he does have an upset in him, but many see him as an easy win for the former unified heavyweight champion.
At 6′ 6½″ and 39, he sure has it all to do against Joshua who is very much looking to get back to his explosive knockout best this weekend ahead of a potential showdown with Widler at the start of 2024.