Robert Helenius was paid to get KO'd

It's one thing to see a punch coming and defend against it. It takes a different sort of mentality and athletic capability to see it, decide to throw in between, and get in a perfectly timed KO shot. Telegraphed as it was, there was very little window for that sort of counter.

Fury doesn't load up, so those sort of windows weren't there. We still saw that by simply stepping to Deontay in an aggressive posture, a wobbled Wilder still managed to slip in a monstrous punch that would end the fight against anyone else:

[url]https://m.youtube.com/shorts/3TrTZ5jPF1M[/url]

 

Let's face it- none of these guys are that good. 5-6 years ago I thought maybe, just maybe we'd approach the era of the 90's, had a lot of bright prospects that seemed to have potential. Unfortunately they've all come back down to earth, and there isn't much to be hopeful for, I see it going back to where it was when the Klitschko's ruled.

 

Some guys just get their brain rattle easier than other. After the knock out they recover as if nothing happened. Look at Roy Jones. When he gets knocked out he is out and a sleep and minutes later he is doing post fight interview.

 

It would be a mistake to be certain that Wilder is still in his physical prime.

Michael Grant had the same set of physical gifts as Deontay Wilder. After being stopped twice, Grant was washed-up before age 30. And I don't only mean his punch resistance was gone; getting stopped twice slowed that man down. He could no longer pull the trigger because he was shot.

Wilder has been stopped twice and he will be 38 in January.

 

This is true; Wilder may well be past it. He's been concussed multiple times by Fury and was brutally KO'd in their last fight after staggering around on jelly legs for about six rounds. That would be Joshua's chance here. He still can't expect to telegraph his shots like that and not pay dearly for it, though. Those are the exact opportunities that an old fighter like Wilder would look for.

Michael Grant could never punch like that, and his mentality is probably more similar to AJs than to the somewhat delusional Deontay Wilder.

 

Tbf you cant really compare Joshua to Helenius or that other fella in that video. He's still levels above.

I can see Wilder beating Joshua but not with any high skill level of boxing. Just throwing the right hand until it connects.

 

No one has ever said otherwise.

 

Not sure i m on the same page bud. Not too sure whyte would agree to be condemned as a drug cheat. Or dazn would be happy with missing out on the added ppv,s. Helenius wasnt a great choice anyway to make joshua look good bearing in mind wilder done him in a single round. Joshua was always on a hiding to nothing against helenius if he couldnt do the same.

Helenius has more often than not been a tricky opponent. About 6 foot 6...good length. Pretty decent hand speed....pretty decent at leaning back to get away from punches. Strong etc. He gave whyte a tricky nights work. There was the wilder fight....but wilder capable of doing that to anyone if he lands.

 

Nice eye. I thought it was suspect until I saw that.

 

Not a great way to fight, though. As Wilder fell further and further behind on the cards with Tyson, the more desperate he got to land the big right hand - a desperation that Fury took advantage of.

 

The PPV buy numbers were already going to be a disaster for that card courtesy of the outlandish price that had been set for it and the conspicuously-poor undercard.

Whyte would have been a more dangerous opponent. The "Wilder v. Joshua in January" rumors started about four weeks before the fight - and I think once that happened - there were never going to risk AJ with Whyte. Remember that Hearn & Co's. first choice for a replacement opponent was actually Gerald Washington. They were seeking an opponent even lamer than Helenius!

As an aside, Dillian left himself wide open for this by letting his BBBoC license lapse - which seriously limited his immediate courses of action once the UKAD sample was flagged positive. He should have seen this coming once the Wilder v. Joshua chatter started up.

Believe me, I thought Helenius was coming to lie down. I agree that making a 7 round meal out of Helenius won't help Hearn's leverage in the negotiations for January because AJ's performance with the same opponent suffers by comparison. Again, that's why they offered the fight to Washington first.

 

Robert prefers the latter.

 

Alot of fighters that get Knocked out in a boxing match, get paid, no?

 

So they paid Helenius to bust up AJ and then to get knocked out ? No , this was legit unlike Wilder vs Helenius

 

Well said.
Suspicious for certain.