Rolling With The Punches: Joshua v Helenius Preview and Prediction

Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has to negotiate a late curve ball in Robert Helenius on his road back to title contention at the iconic O2 Arena in London on Saturday night, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

11 PM Saturday SA time

Anthony Joshua (1.05) v Robert Helenius (8.75)

Joshua was set to battle fellow British ace Dillian Whyte in a rematch eight years in the making, however, the fight was cancelled at the weekend after Whyte failed a drug test. 

Rolling with the punches, Joshua welcomed a new opponent with a few fighters expressing their willingness to step in. Ultimately, Helenius got the fight, which will be his second in as many weeks as he’s fresh off a third-round TKO win over Mika Mielonen in his native Finland last weekend.

Joshua’s as decorated as they come. He won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and went on to become a two-time unified heavyweight champion, boasting wins over the likes of Whyte, Joseph Parker and the legendary Wladimir Klitschko. 

“AJ” is one of the true elite heavyweights of his generation. Helenius is not. 

He’s never fought for a world title and was destroyed in one round in the biggest fight of his career by former WBC champion Deontay Wilder last October. The difference in class between the two, as well as Helenius coming in on less than a week’s notice, makes the 39-year-old a massive underdog. 

For Joshua, this fight is another important building block in his redemption road. Once arguably the biggest star in the sport, a shock loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019 and back-to-back defeats to WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk saw his stock plummet. 

He beat Jermaine Franklin on points in his last fight in April, his first under new trainer Derrick James, and is set to show more new wrinkles in this game whilst staying technically sound defensively.  

A super athlete seemingly carved out of stone, Joshua enters Saturday’s showdown with an impressive record of 25-3 with 22 knockouts. On top of being the younger and faster man, the 33-year-old’s the vastly more technical striker. 

For Helenius, whose record stands at 32-4 with 21 knockouts, this is a chance to shock the world. How “The Nordic Nightmare” does that is a mystery, though, as he doesn’t have one-punch knockout power to end it in a flash. Skill for skill, Joshua’s the superior boxer and is far more fluid in his movement. 

The props on Joshua – whether he’ll win by knockout or decision – are what’s interesting on the betting front. A win itself won’t be enough for him to send a message to Usyk and WBC champion Tyson Fury and would probably leave the crowd, who already had to settle for the bait-and-switch of a late change unsatisfied, to say the least.  

With that in mind, expect Joshua to fight with added aggression and for him to make a statement with an early knockout.