Robert Helenius (24-1, 15 KOs) and Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) are set for a huge heavyweight rematch on May 27 at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
There is a lot of the line for both men, in what promises to be the biggest fight on Finnish soil in recent history, with both the WBC Silver World Heavyweight title and a shot at the current WBC World Champion Deontay Wilder up for grabs.
By Jim Dower: Heavyweight Robert Helenius (24-1, 15 KOs) defeated 42-year-old Argentinian journeyman Gonzalo Omar Basile (68–12, 31 KOs) by a 1st round knockout last Saturday night at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
Jeff Aranow: #13 WBC former world title challenger Johann “Reptile” Duhaupas (34-3, 21 KOs) used a fast pace to give #12 IBF Robert Helenius (22-1, 13 KOs) his first career defeat on Saturday night in stopping him in the 6th round to capture the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
By Allan Fox: Undefeated #12 IBF heavyweight Robert Helenius (22-0, 13 KOs) will be facing former world title challenger Johann Duhaupas (33-3, 20 KOs) in a 12 round bout on April 2 at the Hartwall Arena, in Helsinki, Finland.
Over the weekend, the 31-year-old Helenius had said that he had a big announcement on Monday about his next fight. It was thought by some that Helenius would name a top caliber heavyweight like Luis Ortiz as his next opponent, but the news of Helenius fighting Duhaupas is a bit of a disappointment.
Duhaupas, 6’5”, is a good basic heavyweight, but he was beaten soundly by WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder by an 11th round knockout last September in a failed title challenge in Birmingham, Alabama.
By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it looks like Kalle Sauerland was right about undefeated Robert Helenius (22-0, 13 KOs) vacating his EBU heavyweight title rather than defend it against challenger Derek Chisora (25-5, 17 KOs). According to Fight News, Helenius has vacated his EBU strap rather than defend the belt.
Helenius wants to go after a world title instead of getting stuck defending the EBU title over and over again. The big money obviously comes from capturing one of the world heavyweight titles and then looking for unification fights against the likes of Tyson Fury, Charles Martin and Deontay Wilder.
By Helenius vacating the EBU title, it now increases the chances for a fight between the 31-year-old Chisora and #2 WBC Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs).
By Scott Gilfoid: It does not seem to have hurt British Dereck Chisora (24-5, 16 KOs) that he was recently stopped by Tyson Fury a year ago by a 10th round stoppage.
Chisora, 32, has rebuilt his career with four straight wins over fodder opposition and he’s now in the position to pretty much take his pick for nice paying fights against the likes of EBU heavyweight champion Robert Helenius (22-0, 13 KOs), British/Commonwealth strap holder Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) and the recently beaten Dillian Whyte (16-1, 13 KOs).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCusauQryhI
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten Robert Helenius (21-0, 13 KOs) weighed in at 252.6lbs on Friday at his weigh-in for his fight against Germany’s Franz Rill (11-0, 7 KOs) for their fight for the vacant EBU heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
Rill, 28, weighed in at 245.5lbs. The winner of the Helenius-Rill fight will not only be capturing the EBU title, but they could wind up facing Britain’s Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) next.
By Scott Gilfoid: British/Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) was thought to be targeting former world title challenger Dereck Chisora next on April 9th at the O2 Arena in London, UK. But now Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is saying that Joshua could go after the EBU heavyweight title by facing the winner of this Saturday’s fight between Robert Helenius (21-0, 13 KOs) and Franz Rill (11-0, 7 KOs).
Helenius-Rill fight will be for the vacant EBU title at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. It was originally supposed to be a fight between Erkan Teper and Helenius, but Teper suffered an injury and had to pull out of the fight.
The 31-year-old Helenius is now considered to be the favorite to win this fight and move forward to bigger and better things. That could be a fight against the 6’6” Joshua if Hearn can make it worthwhile for Helenius to the fight.
By Tim Fletcher: Unbeaten #9 WBC heavyweight contender Erkan Teper (15-0, 10 KOs) has reportedly suffered an arm injury, according to Fight News. The injury is bad enough to where Teper’s scheduled December 19th fight this month against the 6’6″ Robert Helenius (21-0, 13 KOs) is now off for the Hartwall Arena, Helsinki.
The 33-year-old Teper’s arm injury will require surgery to repair the problem. Needless to say, this is really disappointing for boxing fans, because the Teper vs. Helenius fight would have been a good one. The winner of the Teper-Helenius fight would have been pushed up the heavyweight rankings to be in position for a world title fight in the near future.
By Tim Fletcher: EBU heavyweight champion Erkan Teper (15-0, 10 KOs) will be making a dangerous title defense on December 19th against the unbeaten 6’6” Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius (21-0, 13 KOs), according to Fight News, in a bout at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
Helenius, 31, has lost the high ranking that he once had in 2013 due to inactivity. Helenius didn’t fight from March 2013 to March 2015 due to promotional issues. He finally came back in March of this year and has beaten Andras Csomor and Beqa Lobjanidze.