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It was at a quarter to midnight that Anthony Joshua turned out the lights on Robert Helenius. Several minutes later, they finally came back on. The right hand came out of nowhere, hidden behind a pair of feinted jabs, and it turned the tide on a wave of boos in the O2 Arena, after the crowd had seemed to turn on Joshua. The Briton, 33, has been accused for some time now of being gun shy, but when he finally found the trigger on Saturday, he throttled it. It was killer instinct, coupled with god-given power, that allowed Joshua to rise through the sport quickly and impressively despite his late start. The ‘sweet science’ side of the game seemingly only appealed to him after he was stunned by Andy Ruiz Jr, and "AJ" employed elements of that approach in their rematch to construct a smart, safe performance and win on points. 'Safe' may just be the key word there, however, and it does hint at the downside to Joshua trying to add another string to his crossbow; that development also seemed to indicate a fear of letting loose – of risking ending up in a firefight. His interest in that tact increased after his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk, in which the Briton was discombobulated by the southpaw’s speed, angles and invention. Joshua tried to adapt in their rematch, but - although he improved upon his previous showing - he was outboxed again. It was only on the microphone, after the bout, that he let go. Similarly, it was only after the final bell in April, when Joshua had laboured past Jermaine Franklin, that there was any threat of a fight breaking out. On Saturday, Joshua was able to have his cake and eat it. For six rounds he probed patiently, to the audible frustration of the London crowd, but in the seventh round he finally produced the kind of one-shot KO that fans had craved all week, since Helenius was announced as Dillian Whyte's replacement. In the first round, Joshua found the timing of his jab quickly, to his credit. He varied its destination well, while his crosses and hooks were out of range for the time being. As the rounds progressed, however, those shots began to land intermittently, with Helenius more than once eating right crosses with his back to the ropes – a sign of what would ultimately prove his downfall. As early as the third round, fans had begun to whistle – then boo – but all the while Joshua kept working, refusing to force a finish. It could be argued that Joshua should have been more adventurous, mind you, but he was intent on taking his time. The lancing jab was still working to good effect, bloodying Helenius's nose badly. In the fifth, Joshua knocked the Finn, 39, off balance with a well-timed counter left hook, just as Helenius seemed to be growing in confidence, output and accuracy. But in the sixth, the boos resumed and reached a quite startling level, accompanied by one shout of: "AJ, what are you f***in' doin'??" Biding his time, it seemed, and in the next round he decided the time had come. Joshua jabbed low, then high, with neither shot landing but neither intended to. Behind those feints, Joshua hid a hard right cross, slung onto Helenius's chin, which sent the Finn lolloping sickeningly to the mat. Joshua walked away at once, knowing the job was done. Then, in a moment of defiance and with a glimmer of his old swagger, he turned and added a crotch chop, as the crowd around him finally used its voice to support the face of British boxing. “People need to leave me alone, let me breathe a bit. I’ll see you again soon, hopefully two more times this year, I need to stay busy,” Joshua said, before taking a shot at his rivals. “My back’s gone, I’m carrying this heavyweight division to the top.” Joshua, yet again to his credit, stayed to embrace those changeable masses in the O2 for more than half an hour. He has been accused of holding a grudge or two in his time, but he was quick to forgive on this night. Regardless of whether the Deontay Wilder fight is next for Joshua, the merit of this win should not be overlooked. Fans might actually cherish Joshua's come-up – that bewitching batch of knockouts against lesser foes – more than most of the fights in his two world-title reigns. When all is said and done, fighters leave fans with memories and highlights packages, and this victory over Helenius was a long-awaited, much-needed addition for Joshua. In winding back the clock, Joshua might just have found himself again. Read More Joshua vs Helenius LIVE: Boxing result and reaction after AJ delivers brutal knockout It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Campbell Hatton: ‘I used to have my nappy changed on the ring apron!’ Glove row put Anthony Joshua vs Robert Helenius in late doubt Anthony Joshua focused only on Robert Helenius amid Deontay Wilder speculation Anthony Joshua weighs in ahead of bout against Robert Helenius

Anthony Joshua fights Robert Helenius at the O2 Arena tonight, as the Finn steps in for Dillian Whyte on seven days’ notice. Joshua was set for his third clash with Whyte here, having lost to his fellow Briton as an amateur before knocking him out in 2015. However, Whyte returned an adverse finding in a drug test last week, leading him to be pulled from tonight’s main event. Helenius, a former sparring partner of “AJ”, steps in, just seven days after having fought and won in Finland. With that early stoppage of Mika Mielonen, Helenius bounced back from a first-round loss to Deontay Wilder, who was left in tears after stopping the 39-year-old in the first round in October. Meanwhile, Joshua, 33, last fought in April, beating Jermaine Franklin on points to respond positively to two straight losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Can the former two-time heavyweight champion stay on track for a potential bout with Wilder? We’ll find out tonight in London. Follow live updates and results from the main event and undercard, below. Get all the latest boxing betting sites offers Read More It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Anthony Joshua on Robert Helenius criticism: ‘Robotic? I became a champion being robotic’ Robert Helenius on accepting Anthony Joshua fight: ‘Nobody will remember a coward’

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Anthony Joshua will fight Robert Helenius on short notice tonight, after the Briton’s rematch with Dillian Whyte collapsed due to an adverse drug-test finding. Joshua knocked out Whyte in 2015, avenging an amateur loss to his compatriot, and the old rivals were due to square off again this week. However, Whyte failed an anti-doping test, causing the bout to be called off. Now in comes Helenius, saving the weekend’s event as the Finn competes for the second time in seven days. Helenius, 39, beat Mika Mielonen in the third round last week, in what might have been a useful warm-up for his clash with “AJ”. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites offers Meanwhile, 33-year-old Joshua last fought in April, beating Jermaine Franklin on points to bounce back from two straight losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua’s rematch with Whyte was meant to be the next step on the road to a fight with Deontay Wilder, and that contest is still in the works for early 2024. Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is it? Joshua vs Helenius will take place on Saturday 12 August at the O2 Arena in London. The main card is due to begin at 7pm BST (11am PT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET). Ring walks for the main event are then expected at around 10pm BST (2pm PT, 4pm CT, 5pm ET). How can I watch it? The event will stream live on Dazn. A subscription to the streaming platform is available to purchase here, with monthly plans starting at £9.99. Odds Joshua – 1/18 Helenius – 25/1 Draw – 17/2 Full odds via Betfair. Full card (subject to change) Anthony Joshua vs Robert Helenius (heavyweight) Filip Hrgovic vs Demsey McKean (heavyweight) Johnny Fisher vs Harry Armstrong (heavyweight) Derek Chisora vs Gerald Washington (heavyweight) Campbell Hatton vs Tom Ansell (super-lightweight) George Liddard vs Bas Oosterweghel (middleweight) Brandon Scott vs Louis Norman (featherweight) Maisey Rose Courtney vs Gemma Ruegg (super-flyweight) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Anthony Joshua to face Robert Helenius after Dillian Whyte fight cancelled Robert Helenius: Record of Finnish star stepping up to face Anthony Joshua Dillian Whyte vows to prove his innocence after doping test ‘adverse finding’ Who is fighting on the Joshua vs Helenius undercard tonight? How to watch Joshua vs Helenius online and on TV tonight Anthony Joshua focused only on Robert Helenius amid Deontay Wilder speculation

Anthony Joshua was expecting to fight a familiar face this weekend, just not this one. Until last Saturday, the former two-time world heavyweight champion was on course for a clash with Dillian Whyte, who outpointed Joshua when the Britons were amateurs, but who “AJ” knocked out brutally in a professional rematch in 2015. The trilogy bout was set for this Saturday, at London’s O2 Arena, which hosted the rivals’ last meeting. But then Whyte completed his own trilogy, returning an adverse drug-test finding for the third time in his career. Whyte served a two-year ban from 2012 to 2014 in the first instance, before being exonerated during his 2019 episode, and now fans await the outcome of this latest saga. Stepping in for the 35-year-old, in any case, is Robert Helenius, who Joshua also knows well. The pair sparred in 2017, as Joshua prepared for his fight with Wladimir Klitschko, and Helenius recalled of AJ this week: “[He was a] hard hitter, good technicals, a little bit robotic. I felt pretty confident.” Those comments are put to Joshua. “A bit robotic? Maybe,” he said. “But I became a champion being robotic. It’s true, right? It’s paid off.” Helenius, 39, also said he would not have accepted a short-notice showdown with Joshua, 33, if he didn’t think the Briton was “vulnerable”. “I’m gonna take my chances and say now is the best time to fight him,” said the Finn. Regardless, Joshua is not taking Helenius lightly. “I can’t fail,” he said gravely. “That’s good pressure. “It’s the wrong mindset [to underestimate] Helenius. He’s gonna roll the dice, what’s he got to lose? But then I’m gonna go in there and have to f*** him up myself as well. It’s gonna be a good fight, may the best man win. I can’t afford to think it’s a light, late replacement, that I’m gonna take him 12 rounds; no, I want to take him out in round one if I can.” Deontay Wilder did just that in October, detonating a short, counter right hook to put Helenius out cold in the first round. The Finn has since bounced back, beating Mike Mielonen just last Saturday, but it was Wilder’s performance against Helenius that made Joshua hesitant to accept him as a late-notice opponent. “It’s just the comparisons,” Joshua says, “but this is my fight with Helenius – my own fight, not Wilder’s fight, no one else’s.” Joshua has always been aware of comparisons between his and Wilder’s performances against mutual opponents, and he notes Dominic Breazeale, Eric Molina and Jason Gavern as examples. AJ stopped Breazeale in round seven; Wilder stopped him in round one. Joshua beat Molina in round three; Wilder beat him in round nine. Joshua stopped Gavern in round three; Wilder stopped him in round four. But the Briton argues: “You never know until I step in the ring, potentially, with Wilder.” That may yet happen next year, though many are sceptical, given such a clash was in the works for the end of 2023 and has in fact been discussed for several years. As rumours swirl and talks rumble on, Joshua insists that his best approach is to “ignore, ignore, ignore it, ignore it”. “One step at a time,” he says. “Yeah, ignore it – I think that’s better.” And so, Joshua’s focus remains on Helenius – and staying focused was essential this week, even when AJ did not know what he was focusing on. “There was one session where I was like: ‘What are we training for?’” he says. “But we just had to flip the script. Due to this late replacement, whoever it may be, I couldn’t put my energy into complaining. I changed the screensaver on my phone from Dillian at a weigh-in to me and Klitschko.” Having Whyte as his screensaver was a tactic that Joshua picked up from Jarrell Miller, ironically, ahead of his cancelled bout with the American in 2019. Miller tested positive for numerous banned substances, leading him to be replaced by Andy Ruiz Jr, who famously stunned Joshua with a TKO win. “I just wanted to visualise what my life’s focused on at the minute,” Joshua explained. “When you’re psyched up about fighting someone, you want them on your mind. When I was slacking, I wanted to think about Dillian; if I was gonna eat a piece of chocolate, I wanted to think about Dillian. “I’ve had to flip the script now. I gave myself until 12 August to be committed. That was the date, so I’m gonna stay focused. On 13 August, I’m gonna relax a bit, but I just thought: ‘Even if I don’t fight on 12 August, I’m gonna stay committed to training this week.’” Helenius wants to do more than flip the script when the action starts at around 10pm; he wants to tear it up. It is Joshua’s job to ensure that does not happen. Watch Joshua vs Helenius live on Dazn by clicking here. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Read More It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Robert Helenius on accepting Anthony Joshua fight: ‘Nobody will remember a coward’ ‘We need to get it at the root’: Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius on boxing’s doping ‘problem’ Anthony Joshua weighs in ahead of bout against Robert Helenius ‘Have you got a problem?’ Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius share intense staredown Campbell Hatton talks next steps of his career and being part of a boxing dynasty

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Somewhere in a castle in Finland on Saturday night, five minutes removed from beating Mika Mielonen, Robert Helenius was posed a question. “Dillian Whyte is out; are you in?” Fighting Anthony Joshua in London on seven days’ notice was the proposition, and it was one that Helenius accepted with little hesitation. Four days on, he casually tells reporters in the English capital: “Nobody will remember a coward.” Few would have labelled Helenius as such, had he decided not to take this fight with Joshua in the wake of Whyte’s failed drug test, but the Finn himself would have lived with regret. That said, there was more to Helenius’s decision than just that. “Of course I think he’s vulnerable,” the 39-year-old says of Joshua, with whom he sparred in 2017. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise. I think I’d find easier jobs to do. I’m gonna take my chances and say now is the best time to fight him.” While Helenius fought just last Saturday, stopping Mielonen in the third round, Joshua enters the O2 Arena this week on the back of a points win over Jermaine Franklin. That victory came in the same venue, four months ago, and saw the Briton bounce back from two straight losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Helenius’s win against Mielonen also marked an upturn in form, as the “Nordic Nightmare” responded positively to a first-round loss to Deontay Wilder. That knockout last October left Wilder in tears and Helenius pondering retirement. “I didn’t think about boxing for about six months,” Helenius says. “I just did some bag work now and then, and mainly strength training. I was weighing a lot in the wintertime...” Then came Saturday’s bout with Mielonen at Savonlinna’s opera venue, and the Anthony Joshua call. Helenius’s manager Markus Sundman says a deal was struck within 24 hours, with much of the negotiating done from a zoo in Finland. Sundman in fact got the call on Saturday morning but did not wish to bother Helenius until after the heavyweight had fought that evening. Did they accept the first offer they got? “No comment,” Helenius and Sundman laugh, though the boxer admits this is not the biggest payday of his career, with funds around this weekend’s event having been hit by Whyte’s exit. Another intriguing factor is the fighters’ past as sparring partners, when “AJ” prepared for his clash with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. How did Helenius rate Joshua, now 33, at the time? “Hard hitter, good technicals, a little bit robotic. I felt pretty confident.” Helenius also acknowledges that Joshua has looked somewhat hesitant in his last three fights, saying: “I’ve seen that change, but he didn’t get knocked out against Usyk or in his last fight, he showed he’s still got it. You have to overcome the gun-shyness after you get knocked out. I’ve been knocked out three times, and I think the first time was the bad one; I was probably depressed for a few months after that. “But I think his last fight, he made a good fight. I have to be awake and nimble, explosive. I hope he’s coming for me [from the first bell]. I am looking forward to this. I’m here to win.” Helenius is serious. Ahead of his fight last week, the Finn had planned a family holiday to Lapland – a trip that is now on hold. “They understand, they’ve been all their life with me,” Helenius says of his children, who are 15, 13 and 10 years old and prefer football to boxing. And what did his wife think? “I can’t ask permission from home to do what I do,” Helenius says. “They either accept it or they don’t. Sometimes, of course, [I think about the dangers of boxing]; I would be stupid not to. And, of course, I’ve been thinking about having a normal life after boxing and not having any brain damage, but boxing is always boxing. And I love it, I love the adrenalin. The [concerns] don’t outweigh the feeling of getting a really good win.” Such a win would also make Helenius the sportsperson of the year in Finland, he and Sundman believe. “When this match got announced, it was in every newspaper and on TV – all the time for maybe 24 hours,” Helenius says. This is a huge occasion – for Joshua, for Helenius, and for Finland. Saturday’s card is an event that Helenius saved after Whyte’s “adverse finding”, and as the Finn prepares for his showdown with AJ, he warns: “My doping is that I have a really high level of Viking blood in me...” Watch Joshua vs Helenius live on Dazn by clicking here. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Read More It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Joshua vs Helenius live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend ‘We need to get it at the root’: Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius on boxing’s doping ‘problem’ Anthony Joshua reveals which of his three defeats hurt the most Derek Chisora and Robert Helenius call for severe punishments for doping cheats Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius go in-depth on boxing’s doping ‘problem’

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