British-Nigerian heavy weight boxer, Anthony Joshua defeated Robert Helenius with a knock out in the seventh round of their encounter last night at the 02 Arena in London.
The bout was marred with boos from the crowd who felt the match was becoming drab and uninspiring.
Joshua rescued the night when he hit Helenius with a big right hand punch which knocked out his opponent and put an end to the fight.
Fans were starting to wonder if the much anticipated Joshua fight with American, Deontay Wilder scheduled to hold in Saudi Arabia in January would be worth the effort and $80 million prize.
With the decisive knockout, Joshua effectively put that next big pay day fight back in play.
Joshua had many boxing fans doubting his ability to win a third heavyweight title after back to back losses to the Ukrainian, Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua needed this fight to put his name back out there on the top of the heavyweight division.
That division is dominated by four main names, Wilder, Usyk and Tyson Fury.
Recall that Fury had defeated Wilder and there were calls for a Fury / Joshua match which would have been a big pay day for both boxers. However, that fight has still not materialized and fans had started doubting the hunger and fire in Joshua in the heavyweight division.
The boos from the fans was evidence enough of their frustration at his tactics and trajectory in the heavy weight division.
Joshua did his best to calm the crowd by ending the fight with his trademark right hand punch. Helenius is not really a top opponent, but on this day, he would just be good enough for Joshua to reclaim some respect in the ring.
As Joshua said after the fight, it’s a fickle sport and I have done my job. He paid tributes to his opponent by saying “Helenius is a talented fighter and I had to figure him out”
Next up for Joshua, a very big pay day in the Arabian desert with the fight against Deontay Wilder in January.
