It’s no secret that the WBA and president Gilberto Mendoza are, to put it politely charlatans. Impolitely, they’re blatantly and excessively corrupt, devoid of anything approaching morality or ethics, and unworthy of sanctioning anything more prominent than Simpson vs. Tatum.
The latest kerfuffle involves resurgent heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (31-3, 20 KO). Way back in 2020, Helenius, then ranked seventh, shocked Adam Kownacki in what was officially deemed a WBA final eliminator. With the belts impossibly snarled at this point, “The Nordic Nightmare” settled for stopping Kownacki again 19 months later. Now, he wants what he’s owed.
“I am rightfully the WBA mandatory, so of course I am interested in the Usyk vs Joshua winner,” Helenius told Sky Sports.
“I definitely should be next. Every elimination bout after mine is bulls***. At this point, if we are not designated the mandatory after Usyk’s next fight, we will only have one option,” he insisted.
“My lawyers are very confident that the WBA have bungled this whole thing, so I am confident in my position.”
Helenius currently sits behind Michael Hunter, as the sanctioning body decided to make another eliminator between “The Bounty” and the laughably overmatched Mike Wilson in the interim. They then decided that there hadn’t been enough elimination, so they ordered Hunter to fight Hughie Fury in a matchup that ultimately collapsed.
And this is all on top of having Daniel Dubois as the “world” champion.
The WBA mandatory is next in line for the winner of Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua. Usyk was the WBO mandatory when he got his shot and the IBF has repeatedly tried and failed to put together a final eliminator. While Frank Warren recently claimed that Helenius could potentially welcome Deontay Wilder back to the ring in October, but I want to see Helenius scorch as much earth as necessary to get his shot.
At the very least, we can hope that his efforts combine with Mahmoud Charr’s and a recent deposition from Greg Cohen that outlined how the WBA exchanged rankings for bribes could finally sink this sh*tshow for good.