DEONTAY WILDER WINS THE ‘REAL COMBAT MEDIA COMEBACK FIGHTER OF 2022’ WITH HIS KO
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Mobile, Alabama (December 30th, 2022)– When former World Boxing Council World Heavyweight champion Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder stepped into the ring on October 15, 2022, on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox, at Barclays Center Brooklyn against former primary sparring partner Robert ‘The Nordic Nightmare’ Helenius, the crowd on hand and spectators on Fox expected a solid showing from Helenius by virtue of his two impressive stoppage wins over the formerly undefeated contender Adam Kownacki.
Wilder, 43-2-1 with 42 knockouts, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who had not won a bout in nearly three years, since losing a rematch to Tyson Fury by seventh-round TKO in Las Vegas in 2020, then losing again to Tyson Fury in their trilogy bout by eleventh round knockout in 2021, had won only two of his previous five bouts, which included his original WBC world title defense 12 round split draw with Fury in 2018.
Helenius, 31-4 with 20 knockouts, Sweden by the way of Mariehamn, Finland, threw caution into the wind with the opening bell. Helenius came forward foolishly with a relatively square stance, and appeared not particularly up on defense. Wilder, with ring savvy, fast on his feet, concentrated on body work immediately instead of headhunting. Helenius, with arms down and defense suspect, walked forward into a corner with Wilder in front of him, and into a point blank Wilder short left-hand power shot to the face which sent Helenius down to the canvas, down and out at 2:57 of the first round.
The Wilder power shot looked a great deal like the short-range shot George Foreman threw to Michael Moorer’s chin to regain the world heavyweight title in November 1994, as opposed to ringside commentator Joe Goossen comparing the Wilder power shot to Muhammad Ali’s first-round anchor punch knockout of Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine in 1965. In any case, Wilder’s finishing blow which took out Helenius was faster than the eye could see. An early wild right-hand swinging miss from Wilder had caused Helenius to immediately hold. That moment should have been the telltale sign to Helenius to put his arms up, and a lowly held right-hand stance walking into the Wilder left-hand power shot spelled disaster doom for Helenius.
As ringside commentator, former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, noted immediately after Wilder’s latest knockout ‘This is why (as a heavyweight) you don’t follow a puncher around.” Wilder demonstrated his peripheral knowledge of Helenius’ training methods, offensive and defensive style, from their sparring sessions, and most importantly, Wilder decoded Helenius’ reckless wading in limited style with defensive holes with pinpoint accuracy. Helenius might be big like Tyson Fury, but Helenius is not a defensive fighter nor a high-level counterpuncher like Fury. Helenius has power, but aside from his knockout of washed up former WBC and IBA world heavyweight champion Sam Peter early in his career, has not fared well against decently solid punching power hitters like Johann Duhaupas and Gerald Washington, both of whom knocked him out.
For his comeback knockout of Helenius, previously believed to be more durable, Wilder earns the distinction of being the best heavyweight comeback of 2022, with his comeback bout reaching its ultimate conclusion at super speed. Everybody watching the bout who saw Wilder’s knockout got the message. Wilder is back atop the heavyweight mix, and he is not going anywhere. As the bout was a WBC eliminator, Wilder’s win raised the possibility of Wilder getting the winner of Tyson Fury versus Oleksandr Usyk. Andy Ruiz Jr., Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois (out with injury), Felip Hrgovic, Zhilei Zhang, Otto Wallin, Martin Bakole, Anthony Joshua, Ari Eren Demirezen, and Frank Sanchez, and the winner of Efe Ajagba versus Stephen Shaw are some of the future possibilities.
With a return performance like this, Wilder is likely to have a hard time finding opponents in 2023. Look for Wilder to step into the ring with somebody in early 2023 while he waits in the wings, perhaps a lesser name in for a quick payday. While Wilder may not be good entertainment, with Wilder, what you see is what you get. Besides Tyson Fury, Wilder’s next heavyweight bouts will be nontitle bouts, and at this point in his career, will not last long by the bookmakers. If Wilder, age 37, whose ring appearances at this point are rare, does get into the ring with a big name besides Tyson Fury, 2023 would be the year to do it while his skills are still sharp.
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