Finland’s Robert Helenius should be on holiday with his family in Lapland but instead this Saturday will attempt to stun Anthony Joshua and ensure he gets another shot at Deontay Wilder.
Helenius had just claimed the 32nd victory of his professional career when he was posed the question of whether he would accept Matchroom’s SOS call to step in as an 11th-hour replacement at London’s O2 Arena for Dillian Whyte, who failed a drugs test with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association.
With wraps still on his hands and sweat from a third-round victory over Mika Mielonen inside a 15th-century castle in Finland, Helenius decided to roll the dice and sent Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn a video on Saturday night to confirm he was in.
A day later and Helenius’ manager Markus Sundman sealed the deal over the phone while at a zoo with his family, which meant his 39-year-old boxer was set to be thrust back into the limelight.
Last October, Helenius suffered a vicious first-round knock-out loss to former world heavyweight champion Wilder in New York and, while many have viewed this fight for Joshua as merely a stepping stone to a bout with the ex-WBC belt holder, his last-minute opponent has other ideas.
“Yeah, I have to get a rematch. I have to redeem myself,” Helenius said of Wilder, who is being lined up to face Joshua in December or the start of 2024.
“I had just finished the last fight on Saturday and my manager came to me and said I have something to ask you.
“He said it was the Joshua fight and I was like, ‘oh man. Let me think’. And 10 minutes I thought about it and after that I was like, ‘yeah, let’s do this,’ This is what we do.
“I would probably be in Lapland in the forest. Tenting, fishing, hunting, relaxing.
“I haven’t had a lot of time but I have been hunting now and then. That was the plan.”
It is no longer the plan for Helenius, or his wife and three children, with his mind now cast back to 2017, when he sparred with Joshua ahead of the British heavyweight fighting Wladimir Klitschko.
View this post on Instagram
Victory over Klitschko at a sold-out Wembley helped take the Finchley boxer to the pinnacle of the sport, but recent years have been leaner with back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk followed by a laboured display against Jermaine Franklin in April.
It was in a shock loss to Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden in 2019 that Joshua’s previously untouchable crown slipped for the first time and there is much debate about whether he has been the same since, but the 29th opponent of his career knows a thing or two about mental scars from boxing.
Helenius insisted: “I can’t compare him to Wilder. I have also been sparring before with David Haye, I have been sparring the Klitschkos, both of them, I have been sparring Tyson Fury, Wilder.
“I have even been sparring Joshua when he was going against Klitschko so I have been a long time in this game.
“He is a tough guy. I think we went eight-round sessions. It was pretty closer. Hard-hitter, good technicals, a little bit robotic but his last fight, he made a good fight against Jermaine.
“I have seen that (change) but I think with his last fights, because he didn’t get knocked out against Usyk and his last fight he didn’t get knocked out, he did a pretty good fight and showed he has still got it.
“Of course you have to come over the gun-shyness after you get knocked out. I have been knocked out three times in my life and the first was the really bad one. I was probably depressed for two or three months after that.”
Johann Duhaupas inflicted that painful maiden loss of Helenius’ career in 2016, eight years after his debut, and perhaps unsurprisingly for a 36-fight veteran, the ‘Nordic Nightmare’ is reflective about his past experiences in the ring.
An aggressive style was adopted against Wilder for a reason but he was caught by a punch the American had been fine-tuning for Fury for years.
Helenius will bring a different style into Saturday’s fight and admitted victory against the odds would propel him into Finnish folklore akin to the notorious exploits of world-record javelin holder Seppo Raty.
“I think I would probably be elected for president,” he joked.
“I haven’t been in the ring for a while with him but now is the best time to win.
“Nobody will remember a coward.”
Julien 'The Black Dragon' Baptiste eyes bigger stage after defending Massachusetts middleweight title
Julien “Black Dragon” Baptiste, the reigning Massachusetts Middleweight boxing champion, successfully defended his title last Saturday, November 9, with a sixth-round TKO victory over Anthony Hines at Fall Reckoning in Dorchester. The main event saw Baptiste overwhelm his opponent with a flurry of punches, prompting the referee to stop the bout at 2:35 of the penultimate round.
With the victory, Baptiste improved his professional record to 8-4-1, cementing his place as a dominant force in the Massachusetts boxing scene. Reflecting on the win, he expressed gratitude and acknowledged the hard work that went into his preparation.
“And STILL!!!!” Baptiste exclaimed. “I would like to thank God ?? for another opportunity for me to showcase my skills and talents. Training camp was on point from beginning to end. Mark DeLuca made sure that I got 1% better each day. Was it easy? Hell no ?, but if you want to stay champion, you’re gonna have to be uncomfortable until you get comfortable to get the job done.”
The fight marked another milestone in Baptiste’s journey, one that began in his youth as the son of Jamaican and Grenadian parents. His mother, Donna Holder Willemsen, hails from Duncans in Trelawny, Jamaica, while his father, Egbert Baptiste, who is battling cancer, is from Grenada. Julien credits both of them for his drive and determination.
“Their strength and spirit, along with my mother’s, drive me to success,” he said.
Baptiste’s introduction to boxing came after his college football career as an All-American free safety. While pursuing his NFL dreams, he was invited to a boxing gym by a cousin from Jamaica, and from that moment, he found a new passion.
“I fell in love with it,” he recalled. “I was there every day. That was in New York. Then I left New York and came to Massachusetts, back to the town I went to school at, looking for work. The first gym I worked at just happened to have a boxing gym and a coach. And here I am now as Massachusetts champion.”
In 2023, Baptiste captured the vacant United States Boxing Federation (USBF) Middleweight title, which he has successfully defended three times. His Massachusetts title has also been defended on three occasions, adding to his growing legacy.
“I know what is at stake every time I fight because my belts are on the line every time I fight. Whenever I fight here in Massachusetts, both my belts are on the line,” he said.
Now 35, Baptiste acknowledges that time is not on his side in the sport, but he remains focused on his ultimate goals.
“I’m coming to the end of my athletic career. I just want to get on ESPN,” he said. “I fought on ESPN earlier this year at Madison Square Garden in February and lost by split decision. I want to get back on that stage, so hopefully by next year, I should be back on a bigger stage on television or something of that nature.”
Beyond boxing, Baptiste’s aspirations include securing a home and retiring from the sport with his health intact.
“I want to leave the game with my mind and my brains, my health. I want to be one of the ones leaving with my health. I want to help the youth and show that there are ways to get out of situations to better yourself,” he said.
With his dedication, resilience, and a drive rooted in his Caribbean heritage, Julien Baptiste continues to embody the spirit of a champion both inside and outside the ring.
JBA stages 1st fight card for 2024
The Jamaica Boxing Association staged its long awaited first fight card for 2024 with four fights and an exhibition bout on Saturday at the Stanley Couch Gym in Kingston. It was an all amateur fight card under the banner Gloves Over Guns Futures Programme.
Three of the four fights went to the Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) whose boxers looked well prepared and physically fitter than their opponents. Arguably the fight of the night was the final (elite) bout between Delano McLaughlin of the JDF and Kirk-Patrick Heron of the Port Antonio Gym in a light heavyweight match-up. Both fighters were very determined while going all three rounds of three minutes each. At times they traded blow for blow while taking some big punches but in the end McLaughlin landed more hits and was adjudged the winner.
The first JDF boxer to enter the ring was Gervin Garrison in a light heavyweight matchup with Sadeki Harris of GC Foster Gym. Both boxers got busy immediately but Garrison soon showed that he was the better fighter with cleaner punches and was more agile around the ring. Harris took a lot of punishment and showed a lot of heart to stay toe to toe with Garrison but just did not have the strength to throw some winning punches as Garrison came out the clear winner.
That fight gave way to another JDF match-up between with Shawn Morgan in a lop-sided super heavyweight face off with Vernando McKenzie of Funrobics Gym. McKenzie entered the ring confidently but could not handle the force and speed of Morgan. He faced referee Wayne Roberts count more than once in the less than two rounds that he was in the ring, as Roberts eventually stopped the fight midway in the second round.
The only boxer out of the blue corner to record a win on the night was Mark-Andre Mendez of Control Strike Gym against Hammid Gordon of Funrobics Gym. They put on a spirited light middleweight show for the crowd but Mendez sent down more punches and was definitely under less pressure in the ring.
The opening action on the night was an entertaining exhibition bout which went to Alex Grant of Suga Gym over Crishaun McPherson of Funrobics Gym. They were the youngest boxers on show at just fourteen years old.
Stephen Bomber Jones, president of the Jamaica Boxing Association was pleased with the response from the boxing community. “I am very encouraged. I am extremely encouraged by what I saw. I am more encouraged also by the response by the boxers, the gyms and the managers themselves because tonight represents what they have been asking for, at least an answer, one of the answers for what they have been asking for. They have had their boxers training without being able to showcase their skills so this gives a platform to answer that so I am very happy.”
He also said ‘the last Saturday of every month we intend to have the same show but going forward it won’t just be amateurs. We want this platform to be from the most novice boxer which is our grassroot boxers – children, the elite amateurs – those that will over the next couple of years give the activities so that they can represent us internationally and also those boxers who want to turn pro, we give them this platform to have monthly bouts so that they can build a professional record so that they can be the choice of boxers that we carry around the island. The public deserves the best boxers when we do the Fight Night Series so this will be kind of be a feeder programme into the Series. The best boxers, the best amateurs and the best professionals that come out of this we will showcase around the island.”
The fight card was sponsored by Pepsi, S&G Road Surfacing, Vere Events, Locker room Sports and Creative Sports
Joshua 'rolled the dice, but came up short' in Dubois defeat
Anthony Joshua is likely to call for a rematch against Daniel Dubois, having conceded he "came up short" after he "rolled the dice" in Saturday's bout at Wembley Stadium.
In front of a record-breaking, 96,000 crowd that had been further geed up by a performance from Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, it was Dubois who turned in a supersonic display on Saturday.
Joshua saw his hopes of clinching the IBF heavyweight title slide away as Dubois dominated from the off, before delivering the knockout blow in round five.
Some pundits suggested this should be the end for Joshua, though the 34-year-old insisted he is not planning on stopping any time soon.
"Credit to him and his team. We rolled the dice of success, but we came up short," he told DAZN.
"You know I'm ready to kick off in the ring, but I'm going to keep my cool, keep very professional, and give respect to my opponent.
"I'm always saying to myself I'm a fighter for life... We keep rolling the dice.
"I had a sharp opponent, a fast opponent and a lot of mistakes from my end, but that's the game."
Promoter Eddie Hearn, meanwhile, claimed Joshua would likely take up the option of a rematch.
"I'm sure he'll exercise that rematch clause, it's a given, it's a dangerous fight because he's growing in confidence all the time but he'll believe he can beat him," Hearn told DAZN.
Dubois, though, will likely want to turn his attention to facing the victor out of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, with their rematch set to take place in December in Saudi Arabia.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
