Joshua Knocks-Out Helenius

Former World Boxing Organization, WBO, Heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, needed seven round to dismiss his last minute replacement opponent, Robert Helenius, Saturday night.

The knockout came via a blistering right hand clubber that ended the night decisively in favour of the Nigerian borne Briton.

Joshua's victory is another step to towards a mouth watering clash with America's bronze bomber, Deontay Wilder, billed to take place in Saudi Arabia as early as January, 2024.

Boxing officiandos are however, skeptical about Joshua's overall readiness for the big encounter judging from his reluctance in confronting his opponent. 

Helenius stepped in a few days after original opponent, Dillian Whyte, was disqualified after failing a drugs test. But the Finn went on to produce a disciplined performance which ended up frustrating Joshua over several rounds before he succumb to the winning right hand blister in the seventh round. 

Former World heavyweight champion, David Haye, does not seem impressed by Joshua's display. According to him, a repeat performance against Wilder would be suicidal. 

“I’d like to see him of the calibre of Helenius, and treat him like Wilder, you can’t stand there jabbing against Wilder. It doesn’t work against Wilder. Would that performance have beaten Usyk? No,” Hayes noted. 

In a slightly different way, former Middleweight champion, Andy Lee, thinks that Joshua, though hesitant, got a nice moral boosting result via the knockout. He warned however, that he would need more against Wilder. 

“I could see Helenius, he was slowing down. Joshua was figuring things out. He was hesitant. The way the world works, those previous six rounds, forget about them, the knockout will go around the world. He needs another two or three fights.

“Wilder is technically not great, but he’s devastating, you can’t be hesitating with him. He’s a man of the people though, Joshua," Lee observed. 

Others analysts say hesitation is expected of Joshua, bearing in mind the haunting experience he had with Andy Ruiz. Former British boxer, Tony Bellew, holds such a view. 

"Joshua could be recovering from haunting Andy Ruiz experience. When you go back in the ring after being stopped, it can haunt you for a while.

“It’ll take knockout victories like this. Kabayel? Too scared.

“When you get done, you find out your vulnerabilities," Bellew offered.