Anthony Joshua opens as betting favorite ahead of impromptu fight with Robert Helenius this weekend
Off the back of a cancelled rematch pairing with former WBC heavyweight champion, Whyte this weekend on home soil, Watford native, Joshua has opened as a massive betting favorite to defeat the short-notice replacement, Finnish heavyweight, Robert Helenius in London this weekend.
Joshua, a former undisputed world heavyweight champion, most recently featured back in April at The O2 Arena, taking home a unanimous decision victory against American heavyweight puncher, Jermaine Franklin in the capital.
The victory propelled Joshua back to the winner’s enclosure for the first time since a knockout win over former title challenger, Kubrat Pulev back in December 2020.
Hoping to secure his second consecutive victory of the year, Joshua had dropped consecutive decision defeats to Ukraine native, Usyk last year in a pair of championship outings – first in England and then a subsequent title re-run in Saudi Arabia.
For Helenius, the former WBA Gold heavyweight champion – featured just last weekend in his return to the ring – taking home a third round TKO win over Mika Mielonen in Savolinna.
The win managed to see the Stockholm-born contender return to winning-ways, after he dropped a thunderous first round KO loss to former WBC heavyweight gold holder, Wilder back in October of last year in Brooklyn.
And fast closing as a betting favorite to land a second career win over Whyte before their pairing was shelved, Joshua has opened as an impressive 1/16 betting favorite over at Betway to defeat the 8/1 underdog, Helenius in London this weekend.
Hoping to prevent a fourth career loss, Joshua’s sole other professional defeat came against former world champion, Andy Ruiz Jr. in his first venture Stateside – with the Mexican landing a stunning seventh round knockout win over the former at Madison Square Garden, dropping Joshua on multiple occasions.
Landing a whopping 22 career knockout victories, the 25-3 professional, managed to add WBA and IBO gold to his prior IBF heavyweight title spoils with a spectacular knockout win over long-reigning champion, Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 at Wembley Stadium.
In other notable career successes, Joshua, 33, has secured wins over notable names such as Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin, Dominic Breazeale, Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Andy Ruiz Jr. and Kubrat Pulev to name a few.
32-4 as a professional while boasting an impressive 22 knockouts throughout his career, Helenius managed to turn in an emphatic 22-0 professional record prior to his first professional loss back in 2016 in Helsinki on home soil.
During his professional tenure to boot, Helenius has secured successes over some really notable names, including Lamon Brewster, Siarhei Liakhovich, Adam Kownacki, and most recent WBC heavyweight title challenger, Derek Chisora – the last of which earned him the European heavyweight championship.
Furthermore, Betway are offering odds currently at 30/100 for Joshua to land a KO, TKO, or disqualification victory against Helenius this weekend on the Matchroom Boxing promoted card.
With a win over Helenius, Joshua has been backed to potentially secure an end-of-year showdown with would-be common-foe, knockout phenom, Wilder in the Middle East.
