In their heavyweight boxing match on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, Anthony Joshua, a British boxer with Nigerian ancestry, knocked out Robert Helenius.
A vicious strike from the former heavyweight champion’s Finnish opponent in the seventh round gave him the victory.
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Joshua wins by knockout for the first time since defeating Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in December 2020 while defending his WBA, IBO, IBF, and WBO titles.
Despite needing oxygen, Helenius, who took over for the suspended Dylian White one week prior to the fight, recovered in time to congratulate a trim-looking Joshua before leaving the ring alone.
“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,” said Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, in a chat with BBC.
“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.”
Anthony Joshua has now won twice in a row following his decision victory over Jermaine Franklin in April.
It’s also his second victory since giving Oleksandr Usyk, who beat him twice, the heavyweight championship belts.
Joshua was defeated on September 25, 2021, by Usyk. On August 21, 2022, the British boxer was victimised by his Ukrainian opponent a second time.
Joshua now has a record of 26 victories and 3 losses, with 23 of those victories coming by way of knockout.
