British boxer of Nigerian heritage, Anthony Joshua, has defeated , his opponent, Robert Helenius, via knockout in their heavyweight boxing bout at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday night.
The former heavyweight champion won the fight after landing a vicious punch on his Finnish opponent in the seventh round.
Joshua’s victory is his first knockout victory since December 2020, when he defeated Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in a WBA, IBO, IBF, and WBO championship defence.
Helenius, who replaced banned Dylian White a week before the fight, needed oxygen but recovered in time to congratulate a slim-looking Joshua before exiting the ring alone.
“I knew this would happen, everyone’s talking about the new AJ and the old AJ and after two or three rounds the crowd starts to get a little bit impatient,” said Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, in a chat with BBC.
“He finds the measure of his right hand and he delivers one of the knockouts of the year on Robert Helenius… this is just the AJ you’re going to see now.
“He’s still got to be more aggressive than we saw tonight but there’s a lot on the line.”