By Geoffrey Ciani: Coming up this Saturday August 12th, former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua was set to have a rematch against Dillian Whyte. But that’s not happening.
Whyte was removed from the card after testing positive for a banned substance. But the show will still go on. Many were expecting that Derek Chisora would wind up being the one getting the call as a late substitute for Whyte, but AJ’s replacement opponent will be Robert Helenius, The Nordic Nightmare.
Helenius actually had a fight just last weekend, where he defeated Mika Mielonen by 3rd round stoppage victory in Finland. Prior to that, in October of last year, Helenius was stopped in 1 round by Deontay Wilder, this being the first fight for Wilder suffering back to back defeats at the hands of the reigning WBC and lineal world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.
Joshua himself was coming off back to back losses against the reigning unified IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua bounced back from that loss a few months back in April, when he won a 12 round unanimous decision against Jermaine Franklin. For Joshua that was his first fight with new trainer Derrick James. The goal for AJ was to get more rounds as he makes the transition working with a new trainer, and nothing has changed in that regard, change of opponent aside.
There is a lot on the line here, as this could be the last big chance opportunity for Helenius, and Joshua needs to win if he hopes to have a big time showdown later this year against Wilder or Fury.
So who will win the upcoming heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that very question, while also providing a quick preview for the upcoming heavyweight contest. Please watch and enjoy the video for one man’s opinion. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).