Heavyweight Anthony Joshua Wins Robert Helenius with One-punch Knockout

Anthony Joshua, the British boxer of Nigerian origin, defeated the Finnish boxer, Robert Helenius, with one-punch knockout in round seven in their heavyweight boxing bout at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday night, 12^th August 2023.

The former heavyweight champion won the fight after he handed his opponent from Finland a brutal punch in the seventh round in the first half of the match.

With the triumph, Joshua scores his first knockout win since December 2020 when he defeated Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in a WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO title defence.

Helenius, who replaced banned Dylian White one week before the bout, required oxygen but recovered to congratulate a slim-looking Joshua before exiting the ring unassisted.

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, proudly praised his client and said, “I knew this would happen, everyone’s talking about the new AJ and the old AJ and after two or three rounds the crowd starts to get a little bit impatient. He finds the measure of his right hand and he delivers one of the knockouts of the year on Robert Helenius. This is just the AJ you’re going to see now. He’s still got to be more aggressive than we saw tonight but there’s a lot on the line.”

This is his second victory since relinquished his heavyweight title belts to Oleksandr Usyk who defeated him on two occasions.

Usyk defeated Joshua on September 25, 2021. The British boxer also suffered in the hands of his Ukrainian counterpart for the second time on August 21, 2022.

Joshua extends his record to 26 wins and three defeats, with 23 of his wins coming via knockout the 33-year-old is expected to fight Deontey Wilder in January 2024.