By Brian Webber: Eddie Hearn has concerns about the risks involved for his Matchroom flagship fighter Anthony Joshua going up against the “dangerous” slugger Robert Helenius on less than one week’s notice for their twelve round headliners this Saturday, August 12th, at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Like the opponent he’s replacing, Dillian Whyte, Helenius (32-4, 21 KOs) knows this is his chance to make life-changing retirement money by knocking Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) out on Saturday to set up a multi-million payday in the rematch.
A victory for Helenius will give him a golden parachute for his life after boxing, giving him a soft landing in his retirement to where he can live carefree, not concerned about money worries.
AJ’s weak chin, poor stamina, and his recent timid performances put him in danger against a killer like Helenius because this will be changing straight ahead from the opening bell, trying to take his head off as he does with all his opponents.
Although the boxing public is dismissive of the 6’6″ Helenius’ chances of winning, noting that Deontay Wilder destroyed him in one round tenth months ago in October 2022, he’s still a risky fight for Joshua & promoter Eddie Hearn.
Joshua is still the main guy for Matchroom, as they’ve found a long-term solution to step into the shoes of the 2012 Olympic gold medalist to be Hearn’s new golden goose that can lay the 24K eggs by the truckload each time they fight the way AJ does.
“I think Robert Helenius is a good fight. Yes, he lost to Deontay Wilder, but that was by a [big] shot,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing, talking about the right hand that Wilder knocked out Helenius with last October.
“He can really punch; he’s 6’8″ and won at the weekend. I think this is a tricky and dangerous fight.”
Joshua vs. Helenius = “Great fight for subscribers
“I think it’s a great fight for the [DAZN] subscribers, and I think we’re going to see a load of new subscribers come in for the show like we saw for the Franklin fight, and you know it’s good to get it over the line,” said Frank Smith of Matchroom to Boxing Social, discussing Joshua’s fight against Robert Helenius this Saturday night.
Is Joshua vs. Helenius a great fight for DAZN subscribers? On paper, it’s not because Helenius looked painfully low last weekend in his fight against an unknown fighter in Finland and looked just as bad in his first round knockout loss to Deeontaay Wilder last October.
“Robert Helenius, he had a warm-up fight last Saturday, which he’d been planning for a long time. You’re going to get a lot of comparisons to Deontay Wilder, but he went in there to fight with Deontay Wilder,” said Frank Smith. “He didn’t shy away and try and hide from him in the ring.
“He got caught with a massive shot, and that’s what Deontay Wilder does. Now, he’s a huge puncher, and there’s going to be a lot of comparisons there, but I think with a week’s notice, it’s a decent opponent.
“It’s hard, but the reality is, we’ll give people refunds on their tickets. The show is now not pay-per-view, and I think we’ve come up with a really good solution. Whoever we would have picked, people would have moaned.
“That’s the reality of it, and we’ve tried our best within a short time frame, and I think, like I say, Robert Helenius is going to go in there and give him a test, and that’s what we want,” said Frank.
The UK boxing public wanted Matchoom to replace Whyte with one of these heavyweights to face Joshua:
- Andy Ruiz Jr
- Filip Hrgovic
- Frank Sanchez
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
- Zhilei Zhang
The options weren’t good for AJ
“It’s quite easy for someone to say, ‘Why didn’t you do this?’ Someone who has no knowledge or information about the business at all. Just run through those names,” said Smith.
“Andy Ruiz wanted an absolute fortune. He came out on social media, he called him [Joshua] out, but there was no real intention around it,” said Smith on why Andy Ruiz wasn’t picked as the replacement opponent for Joshua this Saturday night. He would want a fortune to take the fight,” said Frank.
Andy Ruiz has become his own worst enemy since his victory over Joshua in 2019. The Mexican-American has recently priced himself out of fights against Tyson Fury & Deontay Wilder, and he wants too much money for what he brings to the table.
“‘Why not Hrgovic?’ Hrgovic was training for a southpaw for ten weeks in Demsey McKean. He’s mandatory for Oleksandr Usyk if he wins the fight. So it’s not just a case of, ‘All right, I’ll just jump out and take the AJ challenge now,'” said Smith.
“Demsey McKean is a southpaw. AJ was training for Dillian Whyte for 10 or 12 weeks. That was never realistic. The other one you mentioned to me was Joseph Parker. He’s [Joshua] boxed him before. I don’t think the numbers would have stacked up, and that’s the reality of it.
“Possibly,” said Frank when asked if a fight between Joshua and Parker would have been on PPV. “You’re moving at such a fast pace, trying to come up with the best solution that keeps the card on.
“Not everyone’s going to be happy with the decision we make. Our aim was to keep the show on. Look, it would have been quite easy for us as a business. Whatever way this show goes, it’s not good for us financially.
“The key for us was to keep the event on, keep the undercard fighters. They’ve been training for twelve weeks. They don’t get paid otherwise. If we cancel the show, people go, ‘Useless; you’re not giving people opportunities.’ We keep the show on, and people are going to complain,” said Smith.
Joshua must win
“It’s kind of like we had to make the best decision within a short period of time, and I think we’ve delivered,” Frank said. “I don’t think you can really complain about anything.
If Joshua was younger and his career still shining bright, he would obviously be facing a top-five guy on Saturday, but that’s no longer the case. Joshua can no longer be trusted to beat even fringe-level opposition, so he’s got to be matched carefully to keep him plugging along, bringing in the dough.
“It’s not on PPV anymore. If you want a refund, you can get a refund on your tickets. We can’t be fairer than that,” said a defensive-sounding Smith.
“100%, that’s our focus, that’s our intention. It has been for a long time,” said Frank when asked if they plan on making the Joshua vs. Deeontay Wilder fight next.
“A number of representatives from Skills Challenge and the representative to Saudi Boxing will be over for the show this week. That’s our intention to get the show locked in. That’s the fight that everyone wants to see, and we will do everything we can.
“Final message. Tune in. It’s a massive heavyweight night of boxing, live on DAZN. It’s part of your subscription. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up,” said Smith.
Helenius’ win over Mika Mielonen last Saturday night:
