Eddie Hearn defenders

Eddie Hearn defends ‘credible’ Robert Helenius after the veteran fighter replaced Dillian Whyte as Anthony Joshua’s opponent

  • Robert Helenius will step in to face Anthony Joshua’s this Saturday night
  • Eddie Hearn defended him as ‘credible’ after he replaced Dillian Whyte  
  • He said fans could claim refunds if they felt they weren’t getting value for money 

Eddie Hearn has leapt to the defence of Anthony Joshua’s new opponent Robert Helenius – calling him ‘credible’ despite many fans being left unimpressed by the veteran Finland fighter. 

Helenius has stepped in to replace Dillian Whyte after he returned adverse findings in his drugs test ahead of their grudge match this weekend, but Joshua will be the overwhelming favourite to emerge victorious at the O2 Arena.

The Finnish star only fought three days ago – stopping Mika Mielonen in three rounds – and was himself brutally knocked out by Deontay Wilder in the first round of their encounter last year, with the video being widely shared in light of the news.

Joshua’s fight with Helenius has now been taken off pay-per-view on DAZN but Hearn still believes his star fighter is facing a serious opponent who will ‘come to fight’. 

‘You go into the wild west of who wants it, who doesn’t,’ he said. 

Eddie Hearn has defended Robert Helenius after he replaced Dillian Whyte as Anthony Joshua’s new opponent this weekend 

Hearn insists Joshua will face a ‘credible’ opponent and said unimpressed fans attending the O2 Arena can claim a refund

‘We wanted someone credible, who would come to fight, who we could do a deal with at pace. He’s had big wins and got chinned by Wilder. He boxed on Saturday and got a knockout.’

Andy Ruiz Jr – Joshua’s old rival who stunned him with a shock stoppage in 2019 – was among the names to throw his hat in the ring for a trilogy bout, but Hearn insisted the Mexican never contacted him. 

‘Andy Ruiz put a tweet out but never contacted us. He would have probably wanted 10 mill. [Helenius] has had two good wins on pay-per-view in the US, he can punch a bit and is a credible fighter. 

‘We are taking the fight off ppv and the financial difference for AJ is astounding but he wanted to fight. We all wanted to see the Dillian Whyte fight.’

The promoter said Joshua needed to fight this weekend to stay fresh and keep a mega fight against Deontay Wilder alive

Hearn claimed there was little option other than for Joshua to fight this weekend – no matter the opponent – and said fighting in November instead would have scrapped plans for an epic clash against Deontay Wilder at the end of the year. 

He also implored unimpressed fans to claim a refund if they didn’t feel the fight was worth the entrance fee. 

‘The other option was to fight in November, when you’ve trained for 12 weeks, that’s tough,’ he added. ‘If he doesn’t take the fight on Saturday, he won’t fight Wilder at the end of the year.

‘If [fans] don’t feel like you’re getting value, you can get a refund. It think it is a great heavyweight night but if you don’t fancy it, you can get a refund. We can’t be fairer than that, it was out of mine and AJ’s control. 

‘We’ve acted swiftly, there are 16 other fighters on the card who have been training and only get paid if they fight. They’re the ones contacting me about the fight staying on more than anyone.

Fans have mocked the choice of Helenius after he was brutally knocked out by Wilder last year


Joshua (left) had been training to fight Whyte, but their bout was cancelled after a pre-fight drugs test returned an adverse analytical finding 

‘Joshua is the best I’ve seen him physically and mentally and either way he had to box on Saturday.’

It comes after Whyte’s drug test debacle rocked the sport and drew up comparisons with Conor Benn’s failed drugs test last year that scrapped his grudge match against Chris Eubank Jr. 

Hearn, however, said it was a totally different situation and revealed that Joshua and his team demanded for the fight to be terminated as soon as they heard the news about Whyte.

‘The tests, results, substances were different, conversations between teams were different. It was a co-promotion. There was cloud over the board not recognising VADA. Eubank wanted to carry on. AJ and the team wanted it terminated and I will say we learned a lot last time.’

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