Nick Parkinson
LONDON — Anthony Joshua scored a impressive seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius on Saturday on the O2 Enviornment, putting in place a possible showdown later with fellow former international heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) produced a elegant end upcoming a gradual, tentative get started in a efficiency that was once extra affected person than explosive. The knockout got here 1 little, 27 seconds into Spherical 7.
Representatives from Saudi Arabia had been in London this weekend to talk about a struggle between Joshua and Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn for January.
“That’s the fight we want,” Hearn mentioned within the ring later on. “We have a three-fight plan: Robert Helenius, Deontay Wilder and [WBC champion] Tyson Fury. That’s the ambition of the team.
“He’s a mature heavyweight now, and towards Helenius he took his year in order one of the crucial knockouts of the yr. He’s in a position now for some marquee fights. He’s smarter now. He’s moving to pull much less dangers.”
Helenius (32-5, 21 KOs) was a late substitute, taking the fight on a week’s notice after it was announced Dillian Whyte had failed a drug test, but it was still a significant win for Joshua.
It was the English boxer’s first stoppage since he knocked out Kubrat Pulev in nine rounds in December 2020, following back-to-back points defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, the WBA, IBF and WBO world champion, and a cautious unanimous points win over Jermaine Franklin in April.
After a timid start, Joshua eventually let his hands go to knock out Helenius with a thunderous right hand. It was a finish to add to his highlights reel.
Joshua, 33, seemed uninterested in matching Wilder’s quick knockout of Helenius, which came in the closing seconds of the first round of their bout last October.
Helenius, 39, only agreed to fight Joshua following his third-round stoppage over Mika Mielonen in his native Finland seven days ago. He landed the first decent punch of the fight Saturday, a body shot, in the second round.
The O2 Arena was a few thousand short of capacity after the change of opponent, and those who were there began to jeer at the lack of action in the third round. Joshua seemed reluctant to throw shots, when a single right hand was his only notable punch.
Joshua, who made seven defenses in two reigns as world champion (2016 to 2019 and 2019 to 2021), threatened to launch an attack when Helenius slipped on to the ropes in the fourth round. But Helenius escaped with just a bloody nose from a short, hard jab.
Joshua started the fifth full of confidence and landed a crunching right as he began to let his punches flow more. Joshua got through with a left hook early in the fifth round, and later in the round another left hook wobbled Helenius.
But it was single shots rather than flowing combinations from Joshua, and once again the crowd began to vent their dissatisfaction in the sixth round.
Joshua responded by ending the fight in the next round with a huge right hand that caught Helenius as he was leaning back. Helenius fell flat on the canvas.
Joshua immediately jumped out of the ring to celebrate with his family and friends.
Hrgovic keeps in line for Usyk
Filip Hrgovic (16-0, 13 KOs) stayed in contention for a shot at Usyk with a 12th-round stoppage win over Australian Demsey McKean.
Hrgovic, 31, from Zagreb in Croatia, hurt McKean early in the last round with a right hook and then followed up with more right hands to leave his opponent staggering across the ring after a count. Referee Marcus McDonnell abandoned a count with McKean’s legs betraying him.
Hrgovic failed to shine in a close points win over Zhilei Zhang in his last fight almost a year ago, but he was sharper against McKean in an eliminator for the IBF world title held by Usyk, the Ukrainian who defends his belts versus Englishman Daniel Dubois in Wroclaw, Poland, on Aug. 26.
Hrgovic landed a better selection and quantity of punches, among them a great right-left combination in the second round.
McKean (22-1, 14 KOs), 32, a southpaw from Queensland who trains in Essex, England, landed a flurry of punches early in the fifth round, but later in the round he was rocked onto his heals by a stiff right hand.
Hrgovic hurt McKean in the ninth round with a big right hand to the head, and the Australian’s legs turned to jelly. McKean, who was brave throughout a spirited performance, was forced to hold on to avoid further damage and a count.
But Hrgovic caught up with McKean again in the last round with a short right hook to the jaw. Hrgovic followed with a series of clubbing right hooks to the head, and when referee Marcus McDonnell started the count, McKean stumbled across the ring. McDonnell then correctly waved the fight off.
Bloodied Chisora outpoints Washington
Additionally at the undercard, 39-year-old Derek Chisora earned a unanimous resolution over Gerald Washington in a near 10-round bout.
Chisora (34-12, 23 KOs) needed to take care of an unpleasant trim by way of his proper sight from early within the struggle, however his aggression was once plethora to look him win rankings of 98-93, 97-94 and 96-94.
Nearest being cancelled in 10 rounds by way of Anger in December extreme yr, Saturday’s win places Chisora in layout perhaps for a struggle at the undercard of Joshua-Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
Chisora, who has lived in north London since he moved from Zimbabwe in adolescence, has received as many as he has misplaced in recent times and regardless of being slower than he was once, his relentless aggression nonetheless produces excellent fights like this one.
Washington (20-6-1, 13 KOs), 41, from California, has now misplaced 4 of his extreme 5 fights however he produced some excellent moments in London.
Chisora, who walked to the hoop together with his two younger daughters, was once temporarily at the entrance footing and a proper hand in brief unsteadied Washington within the first around.
However Chisora was once left bleeding from a trim round the proper sight led to by way of a collision of heads early in the second one around and, because the blood started to wave, he was once stuck by way of an uppercut.
Washington, who lasted 5 rounds towards Wilder for the WBC international identify in 2017, started to seek out extra alternatives to land within the 3rd around as Chisora’s paintings was ragged.
Chisora absorbed a instantly left within the fourth around as Washington picked his pictures at the counter, however Chisora responded with a large 5th around. Chisora’s aggression were given him again within the struggle, and within the 6th he stuck Washington with a large proper hand.
However Washington completed the 7th on supremacy, when he landed a left age at the ropes prior to the struggle swung again to Chisora within the then rounds.
