By Charles Brun: Deontay Wilder is putting in hard work sparring with heavyweight contender Robert ‘Nordic Nightmare’ Helenius in preparing for his trilogy match against WBC champion Tyson Fury on October 9th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The big punching 6’6 1/2″ Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs) is fighting on the undercard of Fury vs. Wilder 3 in a 12 round rematch against Adam Kownacki (20-1, 15 KOs).
Helenius, 37, might be a bit overkill in the power department for Wilder, as the big Swede is a much stronger puncher with either hand than Fury. As we all know, Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) isn’t much of a puncher. He’s a slapper, but he can throw a mean rabbit shot, and he’s deadly without those punches.
There’s no comparison whatsoever between the power of Helenius and the slapping, clubbing punches from Fury. Helenius can punch, and he’s not someone that Wilder can part at less than 100%.
Helenius vs. Kownacki 2 may steal the spotlight from the Fury-Wilder fight, as those two will be bringing it. You won’t see the ugly holding and rabbit punching from Helenius or Kownacki compared to what we’ll likely be seeing in the Fury-Wilder III match. Those guys keep it clean.
Deontay Wilder sparring with Robert Helenius as part of his preparations for Tyson Fury on Oct 9th… pic.twitter.com/CtED5FF6WC
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 18, 2021
In looking at the photo, Wilder’s legs don’t exactly look like colossal tree stumps, do they? I mean, Wilder’s toothpick legs look even more twig-like than they usually do, and I’m hoping he’s not overdoing it in camp.
He needs to make sure he’s eating enough food to keep from wasting away to nothing. Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) has been working a lot on movement, body, and combination punching with his new trainer Malik Scott.
The general idea is for the 6’7″ Wilder not to be a sitting duck against Fury like he was in their last fight in February 2020. Fury used the Kronk Gym roughhousing style to perfection against Wilder, and he never stood a chance.
Going into the fight, Wilder and his former trainer Mark Breland should have been suspicious when Fury added Kronk Gym-trained SugarHill Steward and Andy Lee to his training team.
When Charles Brun saw that Fury had added those guys, he knew right off the bat that he was going to going to make it a street brawl with the rule book thrown out the window.
Fury took a slash and burn approach to the fight, and Wilder wasn’t ready for that kind of old-school approach to the battle. In watching Wilder workout with Malik, I still don’t think he’s prepared to deal with Fury’s physical style.
I didn’t see Wilder throwing on rabbit shots, elbows, low blows, or any of that stuff. If things get physical in there on October 9th, Wilder might have to get in the mud with Fury and start fouling back.
If the referee isn’t going to police the fouling like last time Wilder fought Fury, we could see a fight that doesn’t resemble a boxing match under the traditional Marquis of Queensbury rules.
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