British boxer Anthony Joshua knocked out Finnish boxer Robert Helenius in the seventh round with a ruthless right hand straight into the head, ending a heavyweight professional boxing match in London.
Joshua, a former world professional champion, has won 26 of his 29 professional fights and lost three. The Åland-based Helenius has won 32 of his 37 fights and lost five.
Joshua was originally scheduled to face British boxer Dillian Whyte in London, but he was forced to withdraw from the match due to irregularities in a doping test. Helenius, who defeated Mika Mielonen in Savonlinna in Eastern Finland only a week ago, replaced Whyte after a short preparation period.
In the lead up to the fight, Helenius' chances were considered slim by pundits.
Helenius was well involved in the first couple of rounds of the match. The calm tempo at the beginning and the low number of shots for both players seemed to suit the Finn. Joshua slowly started to take more control of the ring events and increased the tempo in the fifth round.
However, Helenius was mostly playing smart and Joshua was struggling to get into a rhythm. Before the knockout, Helenius looked tired and a really heavy punch from Joshua ended what was supposed to be a 12-round fight.
"It was a tough one. Of course it hurts, the heart most of all. I really wanted to win this match. Let's see what happens. Let's not start throwing down the gauntlet just yet, Helenius told Yle after the match.
After taking the knockout punch, Helenius was able to get up and Joshua praised his opponent after the match.
"He came in and saved the show," Joshua summed up in the ring interview.
Will Joshua face Wilder next?
Last October, Helenius lost to top US heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder by knockout. The fight in New York City ended in the first round.
According to estimates, the Wilder fight brought Helenius around one million euros, and the Joshua fight would be the second biggest payday of the Finnish heavyweight's career.
Tim Rickson, founder of British Boxing News and former boxing manager, told STT before the fight that he would be very surprised if Helenius' fee for the Joshua fight was anything other than seven figures.
Joshua is a former IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO world champion. He held the world championship belts of those federations on two separate occasions.
Joshua lost his world title to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine in September 2021. Usyk also defeated Joshua the following year. The first match ended in a points win for the Ukrainian by unanimous decision and the second by split decision.
As an amateur, Joshua won gold at the 2012 London Olympics. Joshua, who is looking for a new boost to his career, is expected to face Wilder next.