Joshua Freezes Helenius, Secures #2 Over Fury

Anthony Joshua is one of the most exciting heavyweights of the modern era. Naturally, there are others such as Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, and many others who contribute to the hustle and bustle of the heavyweight division. However, Joshua's performance against the "Nordic Nightmare", Robert Helenius, outclassed some of the names presented. Helenius was a last-minute replacement for Joshua after Dillian Whyte tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Helenius swiftly came in and saved the event, which was supposed to be a third clash between Joshua and Whyte. While it is disappointing to see the original high-profile event fizzle out into the darkness of "would-be" fights, it is wonderful that Helenius stepped in and helped provide one of the best heavyweight match conclusions of the year. Helenius' unique build of length and height have provided many heavyweights the issue of getting in mid to close range, and Joshua's experience was no different initially. He expressed to the former Coach of the Year, Derrick James, that he was having significant issues finding the right hand against Helenius. This is due to Helenius' ability to throw full power punches from long range, his reach enables him to break down the guard from positions that the average fighter would strain themselves to achieve. Helenius was able to damage Joshua significantly, causing him to bleed from the nose. Being pushed to the mid-range didn't put Joshua out of commission, instead, it allowed him the ease of access to a jab of his own, in the opinion of many it was Joshua's best punch of the fight. In fact, the jab was the punch that set up the dramatic finish of Helenius. Joshua's persistence with the jab created the perfect opportunity to land the right hook on his towering opponent, first aiming high, then aiming down the middle to the body, landing both punches while causing Helenius' guard to switch. In a moment every Anthony Joshua fan rejoiced, Robert Helenius froze to the bone and suffered a shocking back-to-back knockout loss.

Anthony Joshua's shot selection definitely improved from Jermaine Franklin to Robert Helenius, but the physical dimensions between these two opponents are very different and therefore called for a different gameplan from Joshua's head coach, Derrick James. The jab and the cross were incredibly important to Joshua's offense, but the greatest mistake made by Joshua was his lack of head movement. Joshua's head movement has been a topic of conversation for several years, which is inconsistent from match to match. Switching the guard is a massive strength of Joshua's, but the head movement must certainly be improved if he hopes to climb back into the world title picture. There are plenty of secondary belts for Joshua to claim, but these are occupied by less-than-savory opponents. The boxing community has almost collectively agreed on the understanding that a fight between Anthony Joshua and anyone below the top 5 is worthless unless it is an opponent being used as a tune-up or stay busy fight. The development stage of Anthony Joshua is over, but there seems to be a misconception that Anthony Joshua is starting from the beginning, ridding himself of the qualities that made him a dangerous and cutthroat heavyweight, hence the "nice guy Joshua" memes and complaints from many fans. The opposing argument to this is that Anthony Joshua has already achieved his maximum potential, and is slowly but surely adding tools to his mental and physical kit. Which Anthony Joshua the people of the world received against Robert Helenius is up in the air, but the general public will find out in due time on DAZN.