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From St. Olaf’s Castle to the O2 in London: The Frenetic Odyssey of Robert Helenius

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From St. Olaf’s Castle to the O2 in London: The Frenetic Odyssey of Robert Helenius

Promoter Eddie Hearn was expected to announce Anthony Joshua’s next opponent yesterday (Monday, Aug. 7). The day passed without any news forthcoming from Hearn’s public relations staff.

The impasse was broken early this morning. At 2:45 AM Pacific Time, a press release turned up in this reporter’s e-mail box announcing that Robert Helenius was the man. The 39-year-old Finn, nicknamed the “Nordic Nightmare,” replaces Dillian Whyte who was shelved when his VADA test returned an adverse finding, i.e., evidence of a banned substance or substances.

Helenius (32-4, 21 KOs) first came to the fore in 2010 when, in his 11th pro fight, he sent former WBO heavyweight titlist Lamon Brewster off into retirement with an eighth-round stoppage. The following year, he scored a ninth-round TKO over Nigerian knockout artist Samuel Peter. Those fights were in Germany.

Helenius is best known to U.S. fight fans for his three recent fights on U.S. soil, the first two against Adam Kownacki and the third against Deontay Wilder. They occurred back-to-back-to-back over a 31-month span beginning in March of 2020.

Helenius was the first man to defeat Kownacki. His fourth-round stoppage of the popular Pole in Brooklyn was one of the biggest upsets of the year. He repeated that triumph when they met again in Las Vegas. The Finn stopped Kownacki in the sixth.

That led to a match with longtime sparring partner Deontay Wilder. That didn’t go well for the “Nordic Nightmare.” Late in the first round, Wilder knocked him unconscious with a brutal right hand.

That brings us to St. Olaf’s Castle, a 15th-century medieval stone fortress that sits on an island in a lake in southeastern Finland. A popular tourist attraction, now a museum, it is best known for its annual opera festival.

This past Saturday, in his first ring appearance since getting bombed out by Deontay Wilder, Helenius stopped countryman Mika Mielonen in the third frame at St. Olaf’s. A pudgy, short-armed, 41-year-old businessman with six pro fights on his resume, Mielonen came to fight but was in no condition to last the scheduled eight rounds. He was on his feet when the referee waived it off. The bout can be found on youtube.

Veteran Scandinavian boxing scribe Per Ake Persson, a correspondent for Boxing Scene, was there. “Helenius,” he wrote, “appeared to be in good shape and seems to be ready for new adventures in the heavyweight division.”

New adventures, indeed! After competing before a few hundred people at a medieval castle, he will now take to the ring before 20,000 or thereabouts at England’s premier indoor boxing venue. It’s such a quick turn-around that one suspects that his head is spinning.

Matchroom honcho Eddie Hearn, Anthony Joshua’s promoter, was in a quandary when it came to finding a new opponent for Joshua. “The plan,” said Hearn yesterday, “is to get the most credible opponent who can test him for Deontay Wilder.”

Therein lay the rub. The long-range plan is for Joshua to meet Deontay Wilder in December for big bucks in Saudi Arabia. Considering Joshua’s fragile ego, Hearn had no interest in pitting his fighter against an opponent with a strong chance of winning. Helenius is a big puncher but is very slow. Hall of Fame boxing writer Thomas Hauser once compared his speed to that of a stalagmite.

Because time was of the essence, Hearn had no leverage when it came to finding a replacement for Whyte. “It’s a minefield,” he said [because] the credible ones want $10 million, a private jet and my left lower limb in the contract.” He has a history with Team Helenius. The Finn appeared on his 2017 show in Cardiff, Wales, topped by Joshua’s match against late sub Carlos Takam. Helenius opposed Dillian Whyte who defeated him, winning a wide 12-round decision.

To Hearn’s credit, however, he salvaged Saturday’s show. Joshua vs. Helenius and a fairly-interesting undercard will be live-streamed on DAZN.

Anthony Joshua has a big following across the pond. His match with Dillian Whyte would have been a DAZN pay-per-view in the United Kingdom (at a cost of roughly $27 in U.S. dollars). With the switch of opponent, the pay-per-view comes off and the fight will be available to all DAZN subscribers at no extra charge worldwide.

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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

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In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.

The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.

But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.

Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.

Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.

As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.

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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

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In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.

What do they feed these guys?

Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.

From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.

It was savage.

Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.

Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.

Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.

But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.

Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.

Interim IBF Lightweight Title

The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.

Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.

Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.

Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.

There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.

Muratalla was brief.

“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”

Perla Wins

Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.

Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

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Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.

Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.

In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.

Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.

Semi-Wind-Up

Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.

Other Bouts of Note

In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.

In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.

Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.

A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry

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