Joshua vs Helenius Round By Round

Joshua vs Helenius round by round coverage told the story, Anthony Joshua stopped Robert Helenius via KO7, at O2 Arena in London on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023.

1:27 of the seventh, your winner, Anthony Joshua.

The 33 year old Joshua came to the ring with a 22-3 record, with 21 KOs. He beat Jermaine Franklin in April, after taking back to back Ls from Oleksandr Usyk (2021, 2022).

The stakes on this Matchroom/DAZN event: AJ needed to win to go on to his next planned task, Deontay Wilder in January.

Here is how the action unfolded, round by round:

Joshua vs Helenius Round By Round

ROUND 1: AJ strode to the ring to The Godfather instrumental theme, played live by a violinist, for the record.

“Speak Softly Love” is the tune's title, Gayle Falkenthal informed me. Derrick James watched from the corner, for their second gig together.

Helenius came forward, a bit busier. He edged forward, with AJ looking cautious early. AJ got going last 30 seconds. HELENIUS ROUND

ROUND 2: Joshua Vs Helenius round by round continued…AJ started quicker. He closed the distance, had Helenius backing up a bit. He tried the left hook….

Volume solid from AJ to midway. They were center ring, mostly. Crowd liked AJ surge pushing Helenius into ropes.

Lil blood from nose of H…JOSHUA ROUND

ROUND 3: AJ jabbing to start. Very relaxed..Jab is persistent, keeps 6-7 man at bay. H on the back foot at midway.

AJ jab to body is solid weapon. Crowd hoots at slow pace at 1:25. Jab truly set tone and won the round. Lil swell on AJ left eye. JOSHUA ROUND

ROUND 4 Joshua vs Helenius Round By Round

AJ continues jab as table setter. He amped it up, his pressure a bit more than before.

A one-two had Helenius holding. AJ backed up some, looking to catch Helenius, then went back to aggressive.

The Nordic Nightmare stayed defensively aware, not too much offense from the Finn. JOSHUA ROUND

ROUND 5: AJ with jab attack. The poking to the body was sharp. H more active, after hearing it from corner.

His jab landed some, he aimed a power right at 1:35.

Blood from nose of H. AJ trying to take back the round in second minute. AJ land buzzes crowd. EVEN ROUND

ROUND 6: AJ jabbing and aggressive after tepid round to start. H perked up before halfway. Patient from AJ. Jab to body is again present.

Couple twos after ones from AJ. His volume edged the round, no doubt. JOSHUA ROUND

ROUND 7: AJ jabbed as called for. He said he struggled to land the right, he told James. AJ now stalking more at 2:20.

Jab is story of the fight thus far. Then a bomb right, game over. It’s all over! Round 7 KO!

Jab to body, again, to freeze hands, right hand follow with Helenius’ back to the ropes. He toppled, timberrrrr!

Eddie Hearn Plan On Target

Promoter Eddie Hearn said that the plan is beat Helenius, then fight Wilder, and then Tyson Fury after that, in 2024. First things first, though, Helenius is the task at hand.

Conor McGregor and Eddie Hearn at the big show. Picture By Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

The 39 year old Finn holds a 32-4 record coming in.

He got the gig when Dillian Whyte PED tested himself out of the assignment. Helenius fought last week, and beat a journeyman. That was a bounce back after getting run over by Deontay Wilder last October.

Anthony Joshua scaled in at 250 on the dot, while underdog/late sub Robert Helenius hit 249.4 Friday, ahead of the Saturday event at 02 in London, England.

There was some drama–You could hear AJ ask the Viking warrior if he had a problem as they posed post weighing in, and the late-comer to the promotion indicated no, he had no pressing issue.

We will see if that translates to heated action, which we'll catalogue in Joshua vs Helenius round by round coverage.

AJ's eyes stared daggers as he queried Helenius. “Either we're gonna fight now, or fight tomorrow, either way, we're gonna fight,” said Joshua.

He wasn't instigating, though, I don't think, because he said, “Let's stay calm, let's stay cool,” and Helenius nodded.

NYFIGHTS had ample coverage leading up to this clash. One of our people pondered the true stakes of this scrap.”This fight is so significant for Joshua because his relevancy and influence in this heavyweight division hinges on this fight.

“If he turns in another boring, sub-par performance, then this could well be it for AJ. We will call it as we see it during Joshua vs Helenius live updates.

“Eddie Hearn has claimed (yet again) that this has been “the best training camp AJ’s ever had…it’s the best he’s ever looked” (sound familiar?).

“Even if Joshua has been facing Whyte, anything less than an emphatic knockout would have been considered a failure on his part.”

Predictions Prior To Joshua vs Helenius Round By Round

We got some good predictions, to whet your appetite before Joshua vs Helenius round by round coverage, including this one one from Gayle Falkenthal: Gripe about this matchup all you like, but it's better than the alternative after Dillian Whyte did what Dillian Whyte does.

Robert Helenius is a creditable opponent, a proud Finnish Viking who can look Anthony Joshua in the eye.

Helenius is taking the fight after winning a third-round TKO just one week ago – in a castle no less. This gives us a bit of intrigue and makes the fight worth a watch.

Helenius will certainly last longer in the ring than he did against Deontay Wilder. He'll give Joshua good solid work. How much work is the question.

Joshua would build much more interest in a fight against Wilder if he's able to stop Helenius. If he does it will be due to accumulation of damage and not a single punch.

But I don't think he will. He'll win a comfortable decision, and the questions about Joshua's future in boxing will continue to swirl.