“I had just finished my fight last Saturday night and my manager came and said I have something to ask you,” says Robert Helenius as he details the strange twist that led to him agreeing to step into the ring against Anthony Joshua on Saturday night in London.
Helenius calls himself the Nordic Nightmare and he had just fought the 36th bout of his career when he beat his Finnish compatriot Mika Mielonen on a third-round stoppage. The fight was held in a 15th-century castle in Savonlinna, Finland, where they normally stage opera productions. Helenius was in a good mood as, having recorded his 32nd victory, he looked forward to taking his wife and children on holiday in Lapland this week.
