Tony Bellew believes Deontay Wilder must make an ‘emphatic statement’ against Robert Helenius this weekend, in order to get the attention of those above in the world rankings. However, The Bronze Bomber bizarrely admitted that he doesn’t want to scare off potential suitor, Oleksandr Usyk with a ‘statement knockout’.
Wilder returns to the ring for the first since sustaining back-to-back stoppage losses to Tyson Fury when he faces his former sparring partner this weekend. Helenius helped Wilder prepare for his last two fights with Fury and knows him very well.
The Nordic Nightmare comes in as a moderate underdog but has a track record of causing major upsets. Helenius overcame the odds in his last two fights against highly thought-of prospect Adam Kownacki despite being branded as ‘washed up’ by many pundits.
Given Wilder’s previous defeats, a big win on Saturday is important to ensure his stock doesn’t fall. For Bellew, the American must beat Helenius and beat him well if he hopes to attract big fights with the upper-echelon talents.
“Fury has recently mentioned the possibility of a fourth fight with Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk’s team have also claimed that they’d be interested in facing the powerful American,” he continued. “There’s also talk of Wilder taking on Andy Ruiz next year, but the fight I want to see is Wilder against Anthony Joshua, and I still think that’s the best contest that can be made at heavyweight from an entertainment perspective.
“Fury and Usyk may have all the belts and potential bout between those two would generate incredible interest due to the titles and prestige on the line, but for an all-out battle, it just doesn’t do it for me the way Joshua vs. Wilder does. These are two fighters who’ve proved they are powerful, they both take risks, and there’s plenty of history between the pair as well. It’s nailed on to be a classic.”
These comments come after, Wilder raised concerns that Usyk – who has expressed interest in fighting the winner – would be scared off if he beat Helenius too violently.
“I’m going to do what I got to do. I don’t want to make a big statement. I don’t want to scare him off,” said Wilder during the media workout when asked about Oleksandr Usyk being in the crowd on Saturday night.
“He says he wants the winner of the fight. The last guy that said he wanted the winner of the fight was Joseph Parker, and after the fight, I gave a devastating knockout, and he went the other way. So, I’m going to do what I’ve got to do, and hopefully, he’s a man of his word, and we’ll see a great fight in the next fight.”