Following the adverse findings in Dillian Whyte’s VADA test, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom were forced to find a new opponent for Anthony Joshua on days’ notice. That search led to Robert Helenius.
The last time Joshua was tasked with a late-notice opponent disaster struck, famously losing his unified heavyweight titles to Andy Ruiz in 2019.
Now, 39-year-old Helenius (32-4) will be hoping to pull off a similar upset just seven days after his last outing, where he defeated Mika Mielonen via third-round knockout in his native Finland.
‘The Nordic Nightmare’ has been amongst the heavyweight contenders for well over a decade now, beginning his career with a twenty-two fight unbeaten streak which saw him win the EBU European Heavyweight Title and conquer the likes of Derek Chisora, Lamon Brewster and Samuel Peter.
That was until he suffered the first loss of his career to Johann Duhaupas in 2016 by sixth-round knockout.
One year later, six-foot-six Helenius was defeated again, losing to Dillian Whyte on points, before putting a three-fight win streak together only to lose once more, to Gerald Washington by knockout in 2019.
However, in 2020 and 2021, fans saw a true resurgence from the heavyweight veteran, twice knocking out the previously undefeated Adam Kownacki and re-announcing himself as a threat in the division.
Those performances earned him a shot at Deontay Wilder, who had been inactive for over a year, but the contest turned out to be less competitive than many predicted. Helenius was on the wrong end of a spine-tingling knockout in the opening round.
Now, the Finnish fighter has got back into the winning column against Mielonen and is set for another bout against one of the big names in the division, accepting the mammoth task of stepping into the ring with a presumably angry but motivated ‘AJ’.
Not only has the deal with Helenius saved the Anthony Joshua fight, it has allowed undercard fights between Derek Chisora and Gerald Washington and Filip Hrgovic and Demsey McKean to go ahead undisturbed, after all four heavyweights were linked to be Whyte’s replacement.
The event will take place at the O2 Arena on Saturday night, where Joshua will seek to dispatch of Helenius inside the distance – despite the noticeable size difference between he and original opponent Whyte – live on DAZN.