Four Fights Added To Undercard Of Deontay Wilder Vs. Robert Helenius

The undercard for Deontay Wilder vs Robert Helenius is set.

Frank Sanchez will take on Puerto Rican Olympian Carlos Negron in a 10-round heavyweight bout while bantamweight contenders Gary Antonio Russell and Emmanuel Rodriguez will open the pay-per-view telecast with a 12-round rematch.

Sanchez (20-0, 13 KOs), of Cuba, has been recognized as an amateur standout.

Training in California with Joe Goosen, Sanchez has collected three victories in 2020 over Joey Dawejko and stopped Brian Howards and Julian Fernandez. He fought twice in 2021 including his career-best win in October 2021 against then-undefeated Efe Ajagba. He opened 2022 with a 10-round unanimous decision victory against Christian Hammer.

Negron (25-3, 20 KOs), of Puerto Rico, is on a five-fight winning streak – four of which are by way of knockout. His victories are against Dominic Breazeale, Brian Howard, Robert Alfonso and Scott Alexander. His most recent win was against Alexander in May 2021 by unanimous decision.

Sanchez and Negron were supposed to fight on January 1, but Negron was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19.

Russell (19-0, 12 KOs) fought Rodriguez in August 2021, but an accidental clash of heads ended the fight in the first round; it was marked as a no contest. He fought later in November 2021 and earned a decision win against Alexis Santiago.

Russell is the middle brother between former WBC featherweight champion Gary Jr. and 2016 U.S. Olympian Gary Antuanne.

Rodriguez (20-2, 13 KOs) also has one victory since meeting Russell, and that was against Roberto Sanchez Cantu in March, who he knocked out.

Wilder and Helenius headline the pay-per-view event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on October 15. Former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant will take on two-time WBC super middleweight titleholder Anthony Dirrell in the co-feature.