Robert Helenius has vowed to do “everything in his power” to inflict a stunning upset that would ruin Deontay Wilder’s plans to regain a world title.
Wilder returns to boxing following last year’s defeat by Tyson Fury in an eliminator for the WBC heavyweight title, the belt he used to hold, but he needs to overcome the in-form Helenius in Brooklyn on October 15.
For Finland’s Helenius it will be the major opportunity of his career. He knows Wilder well, having sparred with him for his last two fights with Fury, and is confident he can spring the upset.
“I’m a different fighter from Fury so hey [Wilder] is going to prepare differently,” Helenius told Sky Sports.
“He made a good fight the last fight against Fury. Of course they were really tough fights but I think he improved every fight.
Robert Helenius had a long road to reach this opportunity
“I see him as a completely new fighter and I know that people can change between fights. I don’t think that [coming off a loss] is going to be a big problem, he has a lot of experience. I think it’s going to be a really, really good fight.”
Helenius had to beat Adam Kownacki twice over the course of 2020 and 2021 to even get himself to this eliminator. “I’ve been waiting for a fight this big for a long time now. I’ve been preparing since January,” the 38-year-old said.
“It has been a tough road. I have been boxing for 25 years so I’m a veteran in the sport. I’ve had my ups and downs. I have had a lot of injuries on the way but the last couple of years have been amazing and a lot of good work has been done.
“People are going to see that I’m not that old, that I have a couple of years in me still.
“I’ve had good training camp after good training camp so I’ve been improving still.”
Wilder gave Tyson Fury a tremendous fight in their last encounter
Were he to beat Wilder, though, it would be by far the biggest win of his career.
“It’s the next step. I have to prove myself in this fight as well so that I can get the world championship fight. It’s not going to be easy. That’s why we have been doing work all year. We knew we have to do everything , put everything on the line,” Helenius insisted.
“I feel I’m ready for this fight. I’m going to do everything in my power. I have been waiting for a world championship for a long time.”
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are expected to fight for the WBC championship in the near future. Helenius believes Fury would be victorious there. “Because he’s so much taller and an awkward style,” he said.
“It is a tough fight to judge but I would pick him because of Fury’s abilities to change and do whatever it takes to win the fight. I think he would probably punch him out because he’s so much taller than Usyk.
“The heavyweight division is a really interesting place to be right now. There’s a lot of good heavyweights.”
Helenius is taking aim at the top fighters in the division
Helenius himself intends to work his way towards the winner of that potential Fury-Usyk fight.
“That’s the goal,” said the 38-year-old, who is guided by manager Markus Sundman and Mike Borao, an advisor for highly-ranked heavyweights including Frank Sanchez and Charles Martin.
“Of course you need to win every fight to get to the final so I’m doing everything in my power to get this win.”
Tyson Fury, of course, is anything but predictable. Helenius cannot be confident that even beating Wilder and then winning a final eliminator would get him to that fight.
“One day he’s retiring, and one day he’s screaming out somebody, I don’t know,” Helenius said.
“I try not to focus on the future that much. I focus on this fight. I have to get every cylinder firing in this fight and I’m going to concentrate 100 per cent to get this.”
The biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing – Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall – is live on Sky Sports on Saturday September 10. Be part of history and buy tickets for the London showdown here.