Joshua Defies The Boos To Stop Helenius In The Seventh Round

November 15, 2023
1 year

Anthony Joshua had a nervy performance against Robert Helenius, despite stopping his opponent in the seventh round. 

Following Dillian Whyte’s adverse finding by VADA, Helenius stepped in as a replacement. From the off, however, Joshua found it more difficult to get past his opponent.

Helenius managed to control the distance to stay out of range, as Joshua could not get his right hand going. Instead, AJ stayed behind his jab as he sought to figure out his opponent.

On the odd occasion that Joshua did land the right hand, the Brit was reluctant to follow up that work. 

The Old Joshua

As that happened, Helenius began to get comfortable as his own jab did some damage. A bloody nose to Joshua and the swelling on his left eye was indicative of that. 

But in a matter of moments, a rather dull performance came to light. In the seventh round, Joshua came forward with numerous jabs to put Helenius near the ropes. As he did so, AJ landed a big right hand over the top that ended the fight. 

Although it was a stoppage win, any hopes of a win over Deontay Wilder would require a better performance. 

Post-Fight Comments

“People need to leave me alone, let me breathe a bit, Helenius, I told him, please come again, he’s got talent. He will cause a lot of people problems, credit to him, saving the show. I’ll see you again soon, hopefully two more times this year, I need to stay busy. “My back’s gone, I’m carrying this heavyweight division to the top,” Joshua

“It’s the fight we want, it’s a three-fight plan, Helenius, Deontay Wilder, then Tyson Fury. That’s the ambition of the team. Things have changed, he’s a mature heavyweight. He took his time and delivered one of the knockouts of the year. He’s smarter, he’ll take his time.

“It’s dangerous coming in, everybody expects one round, two rounds, three rounds. He saved the show. It’s a box ticked, now it’s Wilder in January. Saudi Arabia want[s] a January date, Shelly texted me with a fingers crossed, it’s one of the biggest fights of all time,” Hearn

Results

Anthony Joshua beat Robert Helenius via a seventh-round KO – Heavyweight

Filip Hrgovic beat Demsey McKean via a 12th round KO – Heavyweight

Derek Chisora beat Gerald Washington via a unanimous decision: 97-94, 98-93, 96-94 – Heavyweight

Johnny Fisher beat Harry Armstrong via a seventh-round KO – Heavyweight

Campbell Hatton beat Tom Ansell via a decision: 78-74 – Super Lightweight

Maisey Rose Courtney beat Gemma Ruegg via a decision: 60-54 – Super Flyweight

George Liddard beat Radek Rousal via a decision: 59-55 – Middleweight

Brandon Scott beat Louis Norman via a decision: 60-54 – Super Featherweight

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