Emphatic return: Deontay Wilder knocked out Robert Helenius in the first round in New York
(Picture: Getty Images)Deontay Wilder announced his much-anticipated return to the heavyweight scene with a first-round destruction of Robert Helenius in New York and now appears to be targeting a massive showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fighting for the first time since his epic trilogy defeat by Tyson Fury at Barclays Center on Saturday night, the ‘Bronze Bomber’ dropped his Finnish opponent - the former European champion - with a vicious short right hand to end a truncated, one-sided contest with three seconds left in the opener.
It was a fittingly emphatic comeback for the slimmed-down Wilder, who is looking to get his career firmly back on track after the bruising series against Fury that saw him relinquish the long-held WBC world title and lose his formidable undefeated record with back-to-back defeats.
After his typically spiteful victory over the ageing Helenius, whose stock had risen following successive shock defeats of Adam Kownacki, the 36-year-old said he was now ready to face any challenger, hinting at a potentially lucrative encounter with unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight king Usyk, who called out Wilder last month.
Wilder also mentioned a possible clash with Andy Ruiz Jr, though resisted the urge to mention Anthony Joshua once again after claiming last week that such a USA vs UK showdown remained the “biggest fight in the world” despite their respective losses at the hands of Usyk and Fury.
"I've been hearing rumours about Usyk but I see he's not here," Wilder said after dispatching Helenius.
“Most of the times guys say they want me and they come to shows of mine, they see knockouts like that they turn the corner. I'm ready for whoever, whether it's Andy Ruiz or Usyk, bring it on.
"Deontay Wilder is back, the excitement in the division is back. There is no heavyweight division without Deontay Wilder, that's fact!"
