By Jim Dower: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (17-0, 12 KO’s) is expected back in the ring in September after having had successful surgery to repair a torn up right shoulder last month. According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, the 28-year-old Helenius had been experiencing pain in his shoulder for some time.

In his last fight against Dereck Chisora last December, Helenius could barely use his right arm due to the pain involved. He ended up fighting most of the bout using his left hand only. To his credit, Helenius as able to pile on enough points in the early rounds to squeak out a close 12 round split decision victory. The outcome might night have been a popular one but Helenius proved that he was the better fighter in that bout and did it with one arm the same with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.

Helenius, #1 WBO, #2 WBA, #3 IBF, will miss most of 2012 rehabilitating his shoulder and will likely miss out on title shots against ht Klitschko brothers. With his high ranking, Helenius could easily get a big payday fight against one of the Klitschkos. However, Helenius will now need a lot of time for his shoulder to heal after surgery and it’s going to take him time for the strength to come back. What Helenius doesn’t need is to be rushed into a fight against the Klitschko brothers so that he can find himself in a situation he’s not really prepared for. When Helenius comes back, he’ll need some tune-up bouts to slowly and surely work his way back to where he was before the injury occurred. An ideal opponent for Helenius would be someone like Chisora in late 2012 or early 2013 depending on if Chisora doesn’t received a long suspension. A healthy Helenius would easily beat Chisora without any problems but he’s got to take it easy for a while.