By Brian Webber: Deontay Wilder has taken a calculated risk in coming in super light at 214 1/2 pounds for his fight against the much heavier Robert Helenius (31-3, 20 KOs) for their bout this Saturday night.
Just looking at the rail-thin Wilder standing next to the much heavier & sturdier appearing Helenius today at the weigh-in, it’s easy to envision that there could be trouble afoot for the Bronze Bomber.
You got to imagine Helenius has studied Tyson Fury’s two knockout victories over Deontay backward and forwards and knows precisely how to go about beating him.
The question is whether Helenius can abandon his normal nonstop slugging routine long enough to mug Wilder the way Fury did by wrapping him up in repeated bearhugs & leaning on him with all his weight.
In Wilder’s last fight in October, he weighed 238 lbs, and he’s reduced his weight by 23 1/2 lbs. Given how much heavier the 253 1/4 lb Helenius is than Deontay, it might have been wiser for him to have stayed at his previous weight.
Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) is banking on his ability to use his lighter weight to evade shots and move and land his powerful right hand.
What we don’t know is if Helenius is going to follow Fury’s blueprint in a disciplined manner long enough to weaken Wilder because if he strays from that strategy, he could get knocked out by Deontay.
“I feel great. I’m at my happy weight again, and I’m ready to perform on Saturday night,” said Deontay Wilder to Fight Hub TV after weighing in for his fight against Robert Helenius.
“I’m happy at this weight,” said Wilder about weighing in at 214 1/2 lbs today. “I’m able to move or dodge things. I can see everything coming.
“So I’m looking forward to displaying for the thousands and the millions that will be watching.”
“I hate losing, so that’s the most nervous I get,” said Helenius to Fight Hub TV about why he gets nervous before fights. There would be something wrong with me if I didn’t get nervous about a big fight like this.
“We had two guys from Poland, really young and fast,” said Helenius about his sparring partners. “I’ve been struggling to get to this point for a long time, and I’ve been doing everything I can to win this fight.
“You have to have your mind set correct, and no matter what, just keep doing what you do,” said Helenius about how he’s been able to take the heavy blows from past knockout artists Lamon Brewster and Samuel Peter.
“Of course, when the punch is really, really hard and you get blurry vision, you just have to pray to God and hope for the best. We’ve been doing balanced training and getting dizzy by ourselves and try to keep that as well because you never know what’s going to happen in a fight.
“If you get hit by a hard punch, you’re going to get blurry vision, for sure,” said Helenius.
