Anthony Joshua produced a one-hitter-quitter knockout over Robert Helenius in London to clear the way for a fight with fellow former champion, Deontay Wilder.
‘AJ’ boxed tentatively for the first half of the fight, finding distance and softening the Finnish fighter with his jab. The fans demanded more, and he finally fired a right hand in the seventh to put Helenius down and out.
He’s now expected to sign to face Wilder in a mega-money Middle Eastern fight set for January. The American’s trainer, Malik Scott, was in attendance with another of his charges, and watched their future opponent from ringside.
Speaking to October Red, Scott said Joshua fought the right fight to prepare for his man.
“They was interviewing me while I was looking at the fight. It went up to the [seventh] round but before then… the story is that AJ was being patient, he wasn’t trying to go for the knockout. That’s the sales pitch. But I really look at it like he wasn’t talking chances early on.
And that’s like a good thing, especially when your next fight is possibly Deontay Wilder, who’s the hardest puncher in the history of the sport. It’s good for you to start practicing not just fighting off your front foot. It’s good for you to go into fights and say ‘I need to take my time.'”
Having said that, the trainer then reaffirmed his prediction of Wilder getting Joshua out of there early.
“Was I really impressed besides the knockout? No. Did it give me type of feeling that we got some trouble coming in January? No.
It actually makes me more confident in I know that he only has three or four rounds in the ring with Deontay before he gets knocked out.”
Representatives from Saudi Arabia were in attendance at the event in London, and are expected to now push forward with final contracts.