It may have taken a little longer than expected, but Anthony Joshua gave the fans at The O2 Arena in London what they wanted, a knockout.
Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) recorded a one-punch knockout against Robert Helenius in the seventh round on Saturday.
With the win, the former unified heavyweight champion could fight former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs), who defeated Helenius by KO in one round in 2022, later this year, or early 2024, reportedly in Saudi Arabia.
There were times in 2016 and 2019 when both Wilder and Joshua had belts and were undefeated, and at that time, the public was clamoring for the two heavyweights to get into the ring.
Unfortunately, the fight never happened, but it could happen now, which is better late than never. The politics of boxing got in between the making of the fight, but that seemingly is out of the way.
After win over Helenius, Joshua reflected on why the fight did not happen.
“For me personally, the networks when we were champions was an issue,” Joshua said. “But now we’re here, and it is a good time to be a heavyweight because Wilder is not champion anymore, I am not champion, we don’t have network pressure, mandatory pressure.”
According to the 33-year-old Joshua, he’s happy for the fans that the fight with Wilder could happen.
“There’s no worry to me when it is,” Joshua said after his win over Helenius. “I’m just happy that we can get the fight going, and I think people appreciate that. I’m doing my best to keep heavyweight boxing on the map.”
This fight still sells, but you wonder how big it could have been back when both fighters were undefeated and had belts. Well, that’s the past, and looking back is never good. Let’s hope we see Joshua-Wilder soon.
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