Anthony Joshua and Robert Helenius had their pre-fight presser ahead of their fight on August 12th, 2023.
Joshua will be looking to make a statement, as a win could put him in line to get a super fight with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
The preparation for the fight was disrupted, as AJ’s initial opponent Dillian Whyte had to pull out due to an ‘adverse finding’ that was discovered by VADA.
In his place came Helenius. The Finnish fighter was infamously stopped in the first round by Deontay Wilder.
While that may have been the case, Helenius did bounce back with a third-round-stoppage win over Mika Mielonen on August 5th, 2023.
And at the age of 39, this may be Helenius’ last chance to get a major win. With that being said, here were the key quotes from the presser.
Key Quotes
“The principles remain the same, worry about myself. Robert and I sparred years ago, we shared the ring, but I’ve sparred with so may styles, competed with som many styles, the objective remains the same – victory, and victory by any means. There’s no overtime in boxing so I have to be on my A-game and inflict pain to get the victory.
“It would be silly to underestimate him, or anyone. I have to take him deadly serious and credit to him, he’s coming to roll the dice, he wants to win. Other Heavyweights that were mentioned, finance is an issue – risk versus reward, but in reality, that’s not all there is for him, so good luck to him, and shout out to everyone in Finland, I’ve been there before, and we’re looking to provide some good entertainment from top to bottom as the card is unbelievable,” Joshua
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity. This fight offer came to me after my fight at the weekend. I was going on vacation with my family but not anymore, here we are. We had a good camp behind us, and we feel ready. I am ready to fight, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I respect him, he’s a good fighter. It’s going to be glorious. I’ve been chasing the World Title for 15 years and when you get this big of an opportunity you can’t let it slip and I will give everything to win this fight,” Helenius