Joshua was looking for his second win on the bounce at The O2 arena against Helenius, who was filling for for Dillian Whyte on a week’s notice after he failed a drug test
Anthony Joshua made up for a timid display against Robert Helenius by scoring a brutal seventh round knockout.
Joshua was originally set to rematch Dillian Whyte at the event almost eight years on from their first meeting, but Whyte was forced out of the fight because of a failed drug test.
Several names were rumoured to replace Whyte, including some of those scheduled on the undercard, but it was who Helenius stepped up to save the show on a week’s notice.
It was Helenius who started the fight confidently as he took the centre of the ring and tried to land his right hand through the guard of ‘AJ’. The slow start continued for Joshua in the second round as it was Helenius pressed forward on the front-foot, with the pair both exchanging some good jabs to the body. The O2 crowd was getting restless come the third round as boos echoed around the arena with Joshua still refusing to throw many punches.
Joshua silenced the boos by landing a hard right hand that sent the sweat on Helenius’ head spraying as ‘AJ’ was finding his rhythm in the fourth stanza, but there was some swelling starting to form under his right eye. Joshua was landing some hard shots that troubled Helenius, but he failed to follow up on any of them.
Helenius raised his arms before the sixth round began but more boos were soon heard amongst the crowd and some fans even started to leave the arena. Joshua then made amends for the lacklustre showing in rounds prior by landing a huge right hand that knocked out Helenius before he even hit the mat and the fight was over in the seventh round.
“I want to give a big round of applause to Robert Helenius,” Joshua said after the fight. “People can leave me alone, I do what I want. Helenius has got talent and I think he can cause a lot of people problems.” When asked about a potential fight against Deontay Wilder, Joshua refused to go into specifics as he said: “My back’s gone from carrying this heavyweight division to the top.
