ANTHONY JOSHUA BREATHED life into his career with a highlight-reel seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius at London’s O2 Arena.
Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed post-fight that his and Joshua’s plan is for the English star to next face longtime rival and fellow former heavyweight beltholder Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia in January.
You do 𝙉𝙊𝙏 get up from those 😤#JoshuaHelenius | pic.twitter.com/1LHhhvr6We
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 12, 2023
Despite the spectacular finish one minute and 27 seconds into Round 7, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Joshua at London’s O2 Arena.
Helenius, the towering former two-time European champion — who was knocked out by Wilder in a round last October and won a bout in his native Finland as recently as this time last week — was a late replacement for Dillian Whyte whose failed drug test put the kibosh on a rematch with Joshua in their homeland.
Facing an orthodox opponent on five days’ notice after weeks of preparing for southpaw Whyte, ‘AJ’ remained patient to a frustrating extent, even drawing boos from the London crowd during an early lull in proceedings.
While comfortably winning the fight, Joshua admitted to trainer James following Round 6 that he was struggling to “find” his right hand.
Less than two minutes later, it was the same hand which removed Helenius from his senses, Joshua (now 26-3, 23KOs) producing a finish more akin to the fighter who became a mainstream sporting star at an earlier juncture in his career.
Helenius (32-5, 21KOs), thankfully, returned to his feet and walked himself out of the ring after taking plaudits from Joshua and the crowd for “saving the show” by stepping in for Whyte only days after he had taken to the ring back home.
Hearn confirmed during DAZN’s broadcast that Saudi stakeholders had travelled to London in a bid to bring a Joshua-Wilder fight to their own country early in the new year.
Joshua may fight once more before that long-awaited showdown, and vowed to carry the heavyweight division on his back in the coming months.
