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WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is backing his trilogy rival, Deontay Wilder, to score a knockout victory over Robert Helenius.
Wilder returns this Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he steps in the ring for the first time in a year – with Helenius in the other corner.
In his last appearance in the ring, Wilder suffered an eleventh round stoppage at the hands of Fury in October of 2021. Wilder dropped Fury twice, but also suffered three knockdowns of his own before the fight was waved off.
Helenius is riding a career high with back to back knockout wins over Adam Kownacki, who at one time was groomed as a future opponent for Wilder.
A victory over Helenius would likely set up a 2023 showdown with former unified champion Andy Ruiz in a final eliminator.
“I think that Helenius is a good fighter,” Fury told ID Boxing. “I think that he’s No.1-ranked with the WBA or he should be if he’s not. I think he did an eliminator with Adam Kownacki and I just think that Wilder is a monster puncher and as soon as he lands on Helenius he’s out. I’ve seen Gerald Washington knock Helenius out, and Wilder knocked him out, so… He didn’t do much good with Dillian Whyte, Helenius, couldn’t really hurt him and Wilder punches like five times harder than Whyte so, yeah, KO for sure.”
At the same time, Fury points out that Wilder took a lot of punishment in their trilogy serious, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in the ring.
“He’s had a year out, we do not know how much the Gypsy King has taken out of Wilder. He’s had a year out and I gave him a hell of a beating that last time, really laid it to him and he needed a long time recover so we will see,” Fury told Seconds Out.
