It’ll be silly to underrate Helenius – Anthony Joshua

• Anthony Joshua acknowledges the challenge posed by Robert Helenius, emphasizing the need to be at his best for victory
• Despite being a late replacement, Joshua respects Helenius and is focused on securing a win in their upcoming bout

Anthony Joshua has admitted that he must be on his “A game” to defeat Robert Helenius’ challenge.

The two-time heavyweight world champion was set to face Dillian Whyte in a rematch of their December 2015 fight, but Whyte failed a drug test.

Helenius, who only returned to the ring last weekend after a 10-month absence, was confirmed as the opponent on Tuesday by Matchroom Sport, who moved quickly to find a replacement.

With Helenius being knocked out in the first round by Deontay Wilder in October and having previously lost a wide points decision to Whyte, Joshua is clearly the heavy favourite to win at London’s O2 Arena.

On the other hand, the Finn has 32 wins from 36 fights on his record, the most notable of which came against Adam Kownacki on two occasions when the Polish fighter was being pushed into world title contention by US promoters.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Joshua admitted that he could not afford to overlook Helenius, especially after losing to late stand-in Andy Ruiz in his United States debut in June 2019.

Joshua told reporters:

Late replacements aren’t ideal, but this is the third time that it has happened.

This is what happens, it is a long career that will bring up these type of obstacles and I have just got to get used to them. This is just another rock in my shoe on my way towards the top of the mountain.”

The principles remain the same in that I have to worry about myself. Helenius and I shared the ring together many years ago, and sparring is sparring as well, but we shared the ring together many years ago, but I have sparred so many different styles, competed with so many styles, but the objective remains the same, which is victory by any means. There is no overtime in boxing, so I need to be on my ‘A’ game and inflict pain to get the victory.

It would be silly to underestimate Helenius. It is silly to underestimate anyone. So I have to take him deadly serious. But credit to him as well.

He is coming to roll the dice, he wants to win. With other heavyweights, finances have been an issue, risk versus reward, but in reality, that isn’t all that this is to him. He is here, he wants to win, so good luck to him.