Who is Robert Helenius?
Anthony Joshua (25-3, 22KO) will now face Finn fighter Robert Helenius (32-4, 21KO) in a 12-round main event at The O2 in London this Saturday August 12, after news broke that Dillian Whyte had returned adverse analytical findings as part of a random anti-doping protocol. As a result, their fight was immediately cancelled with a full investigation underway and Saturday’s sold-out event was downgraded from PPV to usual subscription service on DAZN.
‘The Nordic Nightmare’ has fought in the UK before but this will be his first professional bout in England.
Find out everything you need to know about him below:
Robert Gabriel Helenius was born 2nd January 1984 in Stockholm, Sweden. He lived in Sweden until the age of two, then moved to Finland. He holds both Finnish and Swedish citizenship, and has represented Sweden in a few amateur matches after a dispute with the Finnish Boxing Association. Today, he lives in Lumparland municipality in Åland, Finland.
His boxing alias is ‘The Nordic Nightmare’, and he has the initials ‘NN’ tattooed on his chest.
Helenius began training boxing under his father at the age of five. In the early 2000s, Tony Halme was one of Helenius' first sparring and training partners.
As an amateur, he won the bronze medal in 2000 at the European "cadets" (U 17) championships in Patras; in 2001 he won a Junior European Championships bronze; he was runner-up in the 2001 Finnish Amateur Boxing Championships; in 2004, at the Tammer Tournament in Finland, he lost to the eventual winner, Bermane Stiverne, in the semi-finals; and won a super-heavyweight silver medal at the 2006 European Championships.
Since 2006, Helenius has been fighting in Germany in the Box-Bundesliga (Premier League) for Hertha BSC. Promoter Sauerland-Boxstall had bought an option in case Helenius turned pro after the Olympics. At the Olympic qualifiers he lost to Marko Tomasović and Jaroslavas Jakšto.
Helenius also faced MMA heavyweight fighter Sergei Kharitonov in the amateurs, beating him by points.
BoxRec list his amateur record at 108-39-2, 43KOs. However, he actually had well over 200 amateur bouts.
Helenius turned pro in 2008, signed to German promoter, Wilfried Sauerland. His pro debut was in Oberfrankenhalle, Bayreuth, Germany, which he won against Gene Pukall in the first round.
Due to contract disputes with Team Sauerland, Helenius was inactive for two years, before breaking off the contract with Sauerland in February 2015. Sauerland did not accept the one-sided break of contract and took the issue to the court.
He has been trained by Ulli Wegner (2007-2014), Karl Helenius (2014), and Johan Lindström (2014 – present). He is managed by Markus Sundman.
In 2009 Helenius knocked out former British heavyweight champion Scott Gammer.
When Helenius fought Taras Bidenko in November 2009, over 8,400,000 viewers tuned in to watch on the Das Erste network.
He won vacant European Union heavyweight title in his 13th fight in August 2010.
He has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the European title twice between 2011 and 2016; the WBO and WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight titles; IBF International; WBC Silver; and WBA Gold.
He holds notable wins over former world heavyweight champions Lamon Brewster, Samuel Peter, and Siarhei Liakhovich; plus David Price and Bogdan Dinu in the amateurs.
On 15 October 2017, Helenius agreed to face Dillian Whyte on a week's notice. He lost via unanimous decision after 12-rounds.
In his second to last fight on October 15, 2022, at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, he was brutally knocked out in the first round by friend and sparrig partner, Deontay Wilder.
He has since bounced back with a third-round stoppage win over Mika Mielonen in Finland, which was on August 5th, just one week before his fight with Joshua takes place!
He often likes to train in a Finnish forest, stating that, "Nature is medicine for body and mind".
It was over 70 years ago since a Finn was able to challenge the world elite in the heavyweights, and that was Gunnar GeeBee Barlund (56-30-1, 28KO), from Helsinki, Finland, active between 1934-1948.
He is married to his wife, Sandra. They have a dog, named Bulten, which is aptly a Boxer breed.
One of his favourite foods is a corn dog.
What has he said?
Helenius: "I am excited about fighting Anthony Joshua on August 12. I am a true Viking that is willing to face any challenge at a moment's notice. This is not an opportunity I was going to let slip away. I plan to make the most of it!"
Joshua: "I am laser focused on the win. I can make steps forward to bigger and better things but the road map has a checkpoint, Saturday night. May the best man win."
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