By Erik Schmidt: Undefeated heavyweight prospect Robert Helenius (8-0, 4 KO’s) took apart journeyman Scott Gammer (18-4-1, 9 KO’s) in a 6th round stoppage on Saturday night at the Hartwall Arena, in Helsinki, Finland. The 6’6 ½” Helenius, 25, knocked Gammer down four times in the fight, the final time coming in the 6th round from a right hand to the head. Referee Erkki Meronen then counted Gammer out at 1:52 of the round.

Helenius, originally from Sweden and now living and fighting out of Berlin, Germany, fought incredibly, showing a lot of technical skills in the bout and fighting tall on the outside. Although not too many boxing fans outside of Germany have yet to hear about Helenius, he’s going to be a force in the heavyweight division in the years to come.

At this point, Helenius already looks good enough to beat many of the top 10 heavyweights in the division, including David Haye. I think that would be an easy fight for Helenius because he uses his reach well and is hard to hit because of his long jab and his ability to retreat and fight going backwards when attacked.

In the 1st round, Helenius jabbed from the outside using his long reach to pound the shorter 6’3” Gammer with ease. Helenius then began to drop in a few right hands to the body that seemed to cause Gammer some problems as he was clearly bothered by the shots.

Late in the round, Helenius threw a big whipping right hand to the midsection of Gammer, knocking him to the canvas where he kneeled in pain until the referee reached the count of eight and then got to his feet. Helenius then was content to continue jabbing Gammer rather than going after him and trying to score a quick knockout.

Helenius looked sharp in the 2nd round, jabbing Gammer from the distance and firing off right hands to the body. Gammer attempted to attack Helenius on several occasions but each time Helenius would back away skillfully while firing shots in retreat.

Helenius looked like a carbon copy of Wladimir Klitschko in the round, although without Wladimir’s big right hand, left hook and powerful jab. But, Helenius showed many of the same skills that Klitschko possesses apart from the power department.

Helenius’s size and technical ability gave him the ability to dominate without getting hit. Of course, Gammer wasn’t much of a threat to him due to his mediocre skills, but Helenius’s size and ability were hard to ignore. This guy can fight. Near the end of the round, Gammer landed a couple of left hands to the head a left to the midsection, but nothing more than that in the round.

In the 3rd, Helenius continued to jab from the outside occasionally planting a hard right hand to the midsection of Gammer. The body punches seemed to really sting Gammer, as he would drop his hands after getting hit to the body and keep them around his midsection guarding the area after being hit.

In the 4th round, Gammer attempted to land some left hooks, but each time Helenius skillfully blocked the shots with his gloves. Early in the round, Helenius landed a hard left uppercut to the head of Gammer. After landing a couple of right hands, Helenius spent the remainder of the round jabbing Gammer and showing good footwork.

In the 5th, Helenius continued to work the jab, pounding a frustrated looking Gammer, who looked as if he wasn’t enjoying the fight very much. Helenius landed a long left-right combination that Gammer absorbed. At the start of the 6th round, Helenius dropped Gammer to one knee with a big right to midsection.

Gammer got to his feet at the count of eight, but he looked like he didn’t want to continue fighting. Helenius then went back to the body several more times with right hands to see if he could repeat the knockdown. However, Gammer took the shots well and continued to fight as before absorbing punishment.

Helenius then switched back to jabbing Gammer in the face for the next minute. However, Helenius then threw a hard right hand to the head that dropped Gammer to the canvas where he was then counted out by referee Erkki Meronen at 1:52 of the 6th. After the bout, Gammer, 32, reportedly announced his retirement from boxing.

Braekhus Defeats Yuratovac

On the same card, unbeaten WBA/WBC female welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus (12-0, 2 KO‘s) defeated Amy Yuratovac (6-3, 6 KO’s) by a 10-round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 98-92, 98-92 and 98-92.

Braekhus, 27, making her first defense of her titles, dominated the 26-year-old Yuratovac for 10 rounds, using her longer reach, quicker hands and better movement. Yuratovac put a lot of pressure on Braekhus throughout the 10-round bout, but Braekhus’ long jab and fast combinations got the better of Yuratovac when she was able to get close to land.

Occasionally, Yuratovac was able to land some nice hooks. However, those occasions were few and far in between as Braekhus was much too quick for Yuratovac to get in more a rare shot without getting hit numerous times to the head and body.

If there’s anything that’s not to like about Braekhus’ performance it’s her lack of power. Braekhus could probably hit much harder than she does if she would sit down more on her punches instead of moving so much and fighting on her back foot. However, the crowd didn’t seem to mind her lack of power and cheered Braekhus continuously.