Deontay Wilder returns with first-round KO of Robert Helenius
Deontay Wilder’s post-fight speech lasted longer than his performance in the ring. His return barely got started before he marked it complete.
The Bronze Bomber is back doing what he does best, and Robert Helenius became his latest victim.
In his first bout in just over a year — since he concluded his thrilling trilogy against Tyson Fury, which delivered the first two losses of his career — Wilder KO’d Helenius in the first round to improve to 43-2-1 in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator Saturday night at Barclays Center.
After tepid opening exchanges between the former sparring partners, Wilder met Helenius with a crushing counter right hand that sent him tumbling to the canvas. Referee Michael Griffin quickly stopped the bout amid an unresponsive Helenius.
“I set him up,” Wilder said after the fight. “I allowed him to reach and when he reached I attacked. It was a great fight.”
Helenius attempted to throw two punches to Wilder’s body before foolishly leading with his head as he lunged at Wilder. The former WBC heavyweight champion of the world promptly connected one of his famous right hands to Helenius’ temple.
It was the third time Helenius has been KO’d in his career, sinking the 38-year-old to 31-4.
The win made an emphatic statement to the rest of the heavyweight division, as Wilder now immediately reinserts his name atop the conversation to earn title opportunities. He entered the bout as the WBC’s No. 1 contender, with Fury holding the WBC title after taking them off Wilder. Olexsander Usyk is in possession of the other three belts.
Ahead of the bout, Wilder did not shy away from being open to potential matchups with Anthony Joshua, who is coming off two straight losses to Usyk. He’s also teased a showdown with former unified champion Andy Ruiz.
Both opponents would bring Wilder back to the precipice of once-again earning title opportunities, and perhaps more importantly, a rematch with Fury. At 32-years-old and after reminding everyone of just how dangerous he is, though, Wilder might want to speed up that timeline, and appears ready now to once again starting fighting for belts.
Usyk, however, is currently rehabbing from injuries and won’t be available for the near future. Fury, on the other hand, is currently in ongoing talks to secure a deal to fight Derek Chisora.
“I’ve been hearing rumors about Usyk but he’s not here is he? When guys see these knockouts they turn the corner away from me,” Wilder said. “I’m ready for whatever. Whether it’s Andy Ruiz Jr. or Usyk, I’m ready. Deontay is back and the excitement in the heavyweight division is back.”
Fighting a new opponent for the first time in over 1,000 days and after a long layoff following a dramatic shift in his career’s trajectory, it was unclear how Wilder would perform back in the ring. He had largely stayed out of the public eye since his defeats to Fury, and had seriously contemplated retirement.
Before as late as May, Wilder said he was ’85 percent’ decided to call it a career, and it wasn’t until his home city of Tuscaloosa, Ala. built him a statue that he decided to return. If there was any rust, or any speed or power lost following three gruesome fights against Fury, he certainly didn’t show it.
Wilder weighed in at 214.5 pounds, 23.5 pounds lighter than the 238 pounds he measured ahead of his final bout against Fury. He was a whopping 39 pounds lighter than Helenius, but his decisive counter-punch was plenty heavy enough to fold all 235.5 pounds of his foe.
“It’s been a good camp for me. We worked to make this fun for me,” Wilder said. “We work at this so much that it can just become a job. We made it fun again. We put in over 700 rounds and it paid off tonight big time.
“Robert has the heart of a champion and I knew what he was capable of. I didn’t take him lightly at all. I know that he really wanted this. When you fight Deontay Wilder, you have to have your A plus plus game.”
Following an extra-contentious lead-up to their bout, Caleb Plant declared that he wanted to “make an example” out of Anthony Dirrell.
In what was his first return to the ring since his defeat to Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight title, Plant left Dirrell laying on the ground at the end of the ninth round while pretending to scoop and pour dirt over him, effectively burying is foe’s career.
Statement made.
Dirrell was hardly able to get back to his feet after the ninth-round KO, stumbling after he rose as Plant spared no effort celebrating right in his face following the WBC super middleweight title eliminator.
Plant was cruising before he ended Dirrell’s night with a vicious counter left hand, ahead on all three scorecards at the time of stoppage and out-punching Dirrell 92-62. He improved to 22-1, and re-stablished his stature atop the super middleweight hierarchy.
“This win felt good,” Plant said following the fight. “You’ve heard about how much he hates me, but my head and my heart is what won me this fight. I was in control the whole time. My coach told me to stay patient and ease in and that’s what we did. Then, boom!”
In a rematch of their bantamweight no-contest last year, Emmanuel Rodriguez handed Gary Antonio Russell his first-career loss with a 100-90, 99-93 and 99-91 unanimous decision to kick off the pay-per-view and improve to 20-3. Russell inadvertently head-batted Rodriguez in the ninth round, causing a laceration under Rodriguez’s eye. Despite Rodriguez initially continuing and finishing the ninth round, the bout was stopped due to Rodriguez’s injuries as the two fighters exited their respective corners in the tenth round, sending the result to the scorecards.
Frank Sanchez maintained his perfect record, improving to 21-1 after a ninth-round KO of Carlos Negron in a heavyweight bout.
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