By Charles Brun: Replacement opponent Robert Helenius can earn millions by defeating Anthony Joshua this Saturday night in their scheduled twelve round headliner on regular DAZN at the O2 Arena in London.
In this fight, Helenius (32-4, 21 KOs) has two things going for him. A. power. B. Hunger. The 39-year-old Helenius knows this is his last chance to make life-changing money, and he will look to KO the fragile-chinned Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) with every shot on Saturday night.
Deja Vu: Will history repeat itself?
Four years ago, Joshua found himself in the exact same position he is now, with his scheduled Jarrell Miller testing positive for PEDs. He was then replaced by the chubby, non-threatening-looking Andy Ruiz Jr, who many thought Joshua would destroy in two or three rounds in their fight in June 2019.
In a massive upset, Ruiz knocked out Joshua in the seventh round, earning him a rematch that made him many millions. Ruiz Jr is now a wealthy man, with a fortune estimated at $10 million. That’s impressive for a guy who was just a regular ham & egger before his victory over Joshua.
The money Ruiz has made has destroyed his ambition, but he’s rich and no longer needs to worry about keeping active. If Helenius can duplicate what Ruiz did, he’ll be able to afford to eat fancy caviar, own expensive cars & live in a hilltop mansion.
Helenius has puncher’s chance
“When we were looking at opponents pre-Dillian, the one thing that AJ wasn’t mad about was the fact that how do you compare the performances, but I said look, ‘Wilder can knock anyone out at any moment, and the reason he knocked Helenius out quickly is Helenius was trying to win the fight,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Deontay Wilder’s first round knockout win over Robert Helenius last October.
Helenius made a tactical mistake in his fight with Wilder, choosing to go straight at him as Tyson Fury had done but lacking the the chin to fight like that.
Fury took massive shots in his three fights with Wilder and was arguably knocked out twice but saved by the referees.
Helenius walked straight into a right hand from Wilder in the first round, resulting in him getting knocked cold, just like Fury was in his first fight.
In this case, there wasn’t a referee to stand over Helenius and give a count while he was unconscious, like we saw with the Fury after Wilder knocked him out in their first fight.
“He [Helenius] actually backed him up and tried to throw and walked onto a right hand that would have knocked a horse out,” said Hearn.
“You can’t worry about what people think. Ultimately, you’ve got to look good. You can’t labor to victory, but whether he [Joshua] stops him in two, nine, I don’t really care about that.”
If Joshua can’t knockout Helenius in the first seven rounds on Saturday, he’ll be in danger of being stopped because his poor stamina will put him at risk of losing. Helenius retains his power late in his fights, and he’ll take full advantage of Joshua if he gases.
Just having a puncher like Heleniu hang around for eight or nine rounds is inherently risky because it’ll give him more opportunities to land his big punches.
“I just want to win. Don’t forget that four years ago, we had another issue where a fighter failed a drug test before an Anthony Joshua fight by the name of Jarrell Miller,” said Hearn. “We’d sold out Madison Square Garden, and we needed a late replacement.
“We went with Andy Ruiz, and that moment that whole week, all people did was talk about the Deontay Wilder fight. We’re in an absolute carbon copy of what happened there. This time around, it’s obviously Robert Helenius.
“So we just got to focus on Saturday. The Wilder fight will come. I actually like Helenius as preparation, as I said for Deontay Wilder, but you’ve got to focus on this fight because, I promise you, Helenius fancies it. His team thinks one punch, and it’s all over.
“‘We’re going to make millions if we knock this guy [Joshua] out.’ He’s a big lump. He’s six foot nine, and he’s going to be awkward in there, so we’ve got to be switched on, and AJ’s got to showcase what he’s been doing in the gym with Derrick James because of that,” said Hearn.
Helenius is like someone that just discovered the 1857 ‘Ship of Gold,’ and is about to be a wealthy man.
Joshua staying busy
“I had my doubts because when you get that kind of news, it’s deflating, but he was adamant,” said Hearn when asked if he considered the possibility that Joshua wouldn’t fight this Saturday night after learning of Dillian Whyte’s positive drug tests.
“If you don’t box on Saturday, you then have a rest four or five weeks, and you go back into camp. You need another eight or ten weeks, and you end up not fighting until December, and then what happens to the Wilder fight?
“So it was really important that we fight on Saturday, and I’ve got to say as well that DAZN stepping up to the plate because I promise you. With any other broadcaster, ones I’ve worked with in the past. What
happens in this instance is you keep it on pay-per-view.
“You have to find the best opponent you can, and ‘Unfortunately, Eddie, go and take the bullets, and it’s got to stay on pay-per-view.’ To take this fight off pay-per-view and pay a rights fee means that one, AJ gets a fight, two DAZN subscribers get unbelievable value for money, and perhaps more importantly, everyone up there gets a chance to fight and earn their money after putting in 12 weeks of hard work.
“So financially for AJ, financially for us, disaster really in what should have been happening, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to keep the momentum going, and what we can do is with a great performance, he’s raised the value of the Deontay Wilder fight and move forward,” said Hearn.
