As Robert Helenius prepares for his recently announced fight coming against former heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder, Helenius talks to Lance Pugmire about his thoughts on this fight as he stands firm that he’s fully focused on winning this bout and not what could potentially come afterwards.
Helenius says he plans to bring an even more aggressive style to Wilder as he tries to put himself in position to contend for a major world title. Check out some of what Helenius had to say below.
Helenius on how he prepares to deal with Wilder’s fight-ending power which can end things at any moment for the duration of 12 rounds
“I think I have to be more aggressive (than I was) in my former fights and push forward and have my reaction time better than ever, and have the conditioning to keep my concentration and be alert at all times in 12 rounds. So I think it’s gonna be a tough fight, I don’t see it as an easy opponent. He’s a tough fighter and he’s shown that and proven that in previous fights.
“I’m coming in this fight and giving everything because my dream has always been to be a world heavyweight champion and I’m gonna do everything in my power to become that.”
On his past sparring sessions with Wilder and if they bonded while training together
“We had good sparring sessions and we talked afterwards and we had similar thoughts on life and stuff like that…but at the end of the day this is a sport and, of course, you have to be aggressive and turn emotions off when you go into a fight like this.”
On what win over Wilder would mean for him
“I’ve never been a guy who calls out other guys and be cocky and tries to trash other people — that’s never been my style. But I won’t plan anything before I win this fight. So I have my full 100% concentration on this fight and doing everything in my power to win it.”