By Chris Williams: Eddie Hearn worries that Deontay Wilder could get beat by Robert Helenius in his next fight on October 15th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Hearn doesn’t like the idea of former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) facing the dangerous puncher Helenius (31-3, 20 KOs) in his first fight back from a year-long layoff, and you can’t blame him.
Wilder is taking a significant risk facing a puncher like Helenius after 12 months out of the ring and two consecutive knockout losses to Tyson Fury.
It’s bad enough that Wilder will have been out of the ring for an entire year, but when you factor in that he’s been knocked out in his last two fights, it seems like a dumb idea to fight someone like Helenius.
Wilder vs. Helenius will be shown on FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In the chief support bout, former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant, fresh off a knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez, will face former two-time WBC 168-lb champion Anthony Dirrell.
“I actually think he might get beat against Helenius, in all honesty. I think it’s quite a tough fight. It’s a good fight. I think he might get beat in that fight,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about his thoughts on Deontay Wilder choosing to fight Robert Helenius.
Hearn wanted to match Wilder against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, saying he had good money to offer him.
That would seem like an infinitely better choice for Wilder than facing Helenius, as Chisora is a played-out journeyman, and the fragile-chinned Whyte is coming off a knockout loss to Fury.
It’s unclear whether it’s too late for Wilder to pull out of the Helenius fight. If so, he’d be better off fighting Chisora or Whyte than that big guy.
“I’m going to produce an even bigger upset than I did with Kownacki,” said Helenius. “I’m going for the belt, so this is a fight to prepare me to achieve that goal. I can only become the best heavyweight in the world by beating the best, and that’s what I intend to do on October 15.’’
Helenius helped Wilder prepare for his trilogy fight against Wilder last year. For that reason, Wilder feels comfortable fighting him, but he could be making a big mistake.
