Anthony Joshua overcomes jeers to stop stand-in opponent Robert Helenius

LONDON – Former world champion Anthony Joshua asked to be left alone after being booed as he took seven rounds to stop stand-in opponent Robert Helenius of Finland in their heavyweight bout on Saturday.

Joshua looked ponderous in the early stages and some of the crowd at the O2 Arena in London, who had grown restless with some booing already in the third round, were heading for the exit by then as the 33-year-old failed to deliver immediate fireworks.

“People need to leave me alone, this is my time in the ring,” Joshua told DAZN.

“Let me keep doing what I want to do. Helenius, I told him to come again. He can cause people a lot of problems.”

The big Briton looked nervous and stiff at the start and strangely tentative when Helenius, who fought in Finland only a week ago, appeared to be out on his legs and ready for the taking.

Joshua climbed straight out of the ring without saying a word after referee Victor Loughlin stopped the contest.

He then fist-bumped fans, stopping to share a swig of a drink with watching former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Conor McGregor, before stepping back inside the ropes.

Helenius, meanwhile, received medical attention and some oxygen before getting back on his feet.

“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,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told the 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.”

The knockout was the 23rd of Joshua’s career, taking his record to 26 wins and three defeats.

It was his first since December 2020 when he beat Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in a World Boxing Association, International Boxing Organisation, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organisation title defence in London.

Joshua lost those belts to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021.

Victory kept Joshua on course for a bout with fellow former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and when asked about the potential bout, twice world champion Joshua joked: “My back’s gone, is there a doctor in here? I want to carry this heavyweight division to the top!”

However, Hearn said Joshua needs to keep winning to be talked about in the same breath as the American and reigning champion Tyson Fury.

“It’s hard for him to get up for fights like this. The Wilder fights, the Fury fights, that’s what he wants,” said Hearn.

Helenius was drafted in after Dillian Whyte was ruled out of what would have been an all-British clash following “adverse analytical findings” in a doping test.

The 39-year-old Helenius, who entered the ring with 32 wins and four defeats from his 36 professional bouts, was knocked out in the first round by Wilder in October.

He avoided a repeat of that embarrassing reverse on Saturday although, with Joshua making a cautious start, boos rang out from a capacity crowd during the third round.

Joshua, however, landed with a left hook and then hit Helenius with a right to the face later in the round.

The local hero rocked Helenius again in the fourth before the veteran caught Joshua with a jab.

But the fifth round left Helenius with a bloodied nose and, although Joshua made him stumble with a left uppercut, he survived and got through an uneventful sixth round.

Joshua did give his fans what they came to see when he knocked out Helenius with a powerful right-hand punch 1min 27sec into the seventh round.

Helenius briefly remained motionless, but eventually got back to his feet before touching gloves with Joshua as a mark of respect. AFP, REUTERS