Highlights: Joshua knocks out Helenius with huge right hand

Anthony Joshua landed a bomb to knock out Robert Helenius, but was the performance a good one?

Anthony Joshua scored a highlight reel knockout win over Robert Helenius tonight, scoring a one-shot right hand KO in round seven.

Joshua (26-3, 23 KO) had another tentative sort of outing until the one big bomb, as he looked a little wary about being countered by Helenius, and the fight resembled AJ’s win over Jermaine Franklin earlier this year.

Until it didn’t, anyway.

In the round after telling trainer Derrick James he was having trouble finding the range for the right hand, he found it in a big way, blasting Helenius (32-5, 21 KO) and ending the fight at 1:27 of round seven.

Referee Victor Loughlin didn’t bother with a count, and understandably so.

Joshua thanked Helenius for “saving the show,” coming in on short notice to replace Dillian Whyte, who failed a VADA test last week.

“The guy’s got talent. I had to figure him out, and I think he can cause a lot of people some problems,” Joshua said of his opponent, before saying he wanted to fight “two more times” this year, which seems unlikely given there are effectively four months left in the year.

Deontay Wilder was brought up, because there is once again a lot of talk about making this fight. When asked about fighting Wilder, Joshua dodged the question in a “humorous” manner, asking for a doctor to check on his back, which hurts from “carrying this heavyweight division to the top.”

He then left the ring.

Promoter Eddie Hearn did address the idea, saying they hoped to “close” the deal “over the next couple of days.”

Joshua vs Helenius highlights

Undercard highlights and results

• Derek Chisora UD-10 Gerald Washington (96-94, 97-94, 98-93): This was not good. It was predictable how it wasn’t good, but all the same, actually seeing it is different than just knowing it. The 39-year-old Chisora (34-13, 23 KO) deserved the win, we had it 97-93 for him, could have had 96-94, but he looked as cooked as he has in every fight he’s had after the Usyk bout in 2020. The 41-year-old Washington (20-6-1, 13 KO) looked his age, too. Hrgovic vs McKean may have killed the crowd, but this did nothing to get them going again, either. With genuine respect to both — Chisora’s had a remarkable fighting career, all in all, and Washington has made the absolute most you could really hope from how he got into boxing — this was not a good fight, had no meaning in a sporting sense because it’s not like a win was putting them in line for something bigger, and then also wasn’t very much for “entertainment” beyond all that.

• Filip Hrgovic TKO-12 Demsey McKean (1:01): If you watched this, you know it wasn’t as impressive as the “TKO” part makes it seem. Hrgovic (16-0, 13 KO) fought in pretty uninspiring fashion, while McKean (22-1, 14 KO) was chasing a world record for holding, which referee Marcus McDonnell wanted to do nothing about, apparently, other than 100 “warnings” that added up to nothing other than more time off the clock. The win means Hrgovic maintains his IBF mandatory slot. Trainer Ronnie Shields was about a 0.8 “Emanuel Steward in Taylor vs Spinks” in Hrgovic’s corner.

• Johnny Fisher TKO-7 Harry Armstrong (1:19): Kinda loved what we saw from “The Romford Bull” today, including having to deal with a bit of adversity. Fisher (10-0, 9 KO) got a knockdown in the opening seconds of the fight, as he charged in to do damage, but Armstrong (5-2-1, 0 KO) was able to weather the early storm and ask some questions of the 24-year-old slugger. Then Fisher fairly capably answered them, finding some holes, working away, unloading when he thought he could, and ultimately got the stoppage. The fact that Armstrong wasn’t knocked cold by the shots Fisher landed at the end says a good bit about Armstrong’s ability to take a shot, honestly, because there were bombs in there. But the corner knew best and tossed the towel, as they should have. Fisher got some notes on what needs work, but he also passed a solid test with some really encouraging signs.

• Campbell Hatton PTS-8 Tom Ansell (78-74): Think the ref was actually a little generous to Ansell (10-5, 2 KO), or maybe a little harsh on Hatton (13-0, 5 KO). Young Campbell did clearly fatigue after the fifth round or so, bu solid boxing performance from him all in all. You almost wish he’d tried to do a bit more, but he threw some energy into the fourth and perhaps read that Ansell wasn’t going to fold.