Robert Helenius, 39, arrived after Friday’s weigh-in for an interview with Urheilu exhausted. He had just arrived Anthony Joshua33, under the skin in a staring contest, but the Brit managed to strike in another way.
Helenius’ team had already been asked well in advance, before the match was even one hundred percent certain, what kind of gloves he was going to use on Saturday night. Joshua then chose completely different tools.
– He has such gloves where there is no padding. They were completely empty. We had to shout and start rioting, that we also have the same ones, Helenius would say.
The normally calm Finnish competitor admitted that he got nervous in the situation and his emotions came to the surface. He was especially upset that Joshua’s team cheated.
– As if everything isn’t going well for him here at home anyway. That you have to start messing around with gloves like that. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.
Helenius described his own gloves as pillows and stated that the two could just as easily fight without them. This is unlikely to happen, but it is at least certain that Helenius will not fight on his “pillows”.
– The gloves will change, he assured.
Vacationing in Lapland changed to a top match
Helenius’ week has been significantly different from what he had prepared for. Originally, he was supposed to be on vacation with his family in Lapland, fishing and hunting. Instead, he was in London giving one interview after another for several hours.
– In a couple of days, I have given more interviews than ever before. Heavy, Helenius laughed.
From Friday’s weigh-in, Helenius was left with a good feeling, and he planned to continue feeling good by moving to his own bubble and focusing only on the upcoming match.
Anthony Joshua is a different opponent than Helenius is used to. The Finn intends to go into the match at a calm pace.
– In the third or fourth innings, you have to make a bit more effort to hit, he planned.
– Of course, already in the first set you have to be sharp, but let’s first look at the first couple of sets, in which way he starts to attack.
“Wants to mess up everyone’s plans”
Anthony Joshua won gold at the London Olympics and then turned professional. Joshua has since won the IBF, WBO and WBA world championships, but lost them to the Ukrainian For Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021.
Joshua was originally supposed to face off on Saturday Dillian Whyte and had been preparing for the meeting with her husband for a long time, but there were ambiguities in his doping sample. That’s why Robert Helenius, who is boxing in a completely different style, will now enter the ring of the London arena.
In advance estimates, Joshua’s victory is expected, as his speed, technique and versatility are at times superior, but sports people also give Helenius a chance.
– Helenius has good opportunities. He has a hard punch, he is big and strong. I think he wants to come here and mess up everyone’s plans, said the former WBA, WBO and WBC heavyweight world champion David Haye.
Haye knows Helenius well, as Helenius sparred Haye 12 years ago. Britti especially liked the Finn’s behavior in the staring contest at the weigh-in. Helenius made Joshua nervous when he didn’t look away first.
– Maybe Joshua feels the pressure. Maybe he realizes that Helenius is a big, strong Viking and that this is true. He got Joshua talking. I liked it, Haye gushed.
Will there be the biggest surprise ever?
Anthony Joshua’s star has waned in the boxing sky in recent years, so he needs a win in this fight to even dream of a championship fight. In the heavyweight ranking, Joshua is currently in fourth place. Ahead of him are Usyk, the WBC champion Tyson Fury mixed Deontay Wilder.
London Boxing Night Promoter Eddie Hearn hopes that Joshua will beat Helenius on Saturday. Then Joshua would fight Wilder next. Wilder knocked out Helenius in October 2022 in the last seconds of the first round.
However, Hearn reminded Urheilu that you never know what will happen in heavyweight matches. Joshua, who returned to the ring last April after a break, was not in such a knock-out condition as before.
– Robert is a big man. “He can hit really hard and anything can happen in a heavyweight fight, so it’s a must-win fight,” Hearn said.
The experienced promoter knows Helenius and his team well, and Joshua needed an honest and credible opponent who is going to win.
Hearn had greetings for Finnish boxing fans.
– Listen, your guy can cause one of the biggest surprises ever in boxing if he wins, he said and then directed his words to Helenius.
– Robert is a good man, and he has a good heart. He will do everything for himself and his country, but please, don’t win!