According to the original schedule, Anthony Joshua reached an agreement to meet Dillian Whyte in August. This match was later canceled by Whyte was discovered to use doping, and faced a 2 -year ban. This caused Joshua to find a new opponent to play, and he did.
According to information from The Sun (UK), Joshua's upcoming opponent is “Nordic nightmares” Robert Helenius. This year, 39 years old, Helenius owns a 36 professional boxing record, including 32 wins (21 no) and 4 defeats. He won the WBO, IBF and WBA championship belt in the Heavyweight weight class.
At the peak stage, Helenius won Derek Chisora, lost to Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder. That helps Helenius chosen as a backup boxer instead of Whyte to fight Joshua. It is known that the bosses of Joshua and Whye do not want the game to cancel because the amount of money poured in too much.
According to information from British media, Joshua's upcoming match is expected to attract no less than 45 million pounds of bonuses. Despite the result of winning or losing, Helenius will also collect money. That is why this boxer has more motivation to encounter the former world championship.
As for Joshua, he needed to find some more opponents to compete, thereby finding the feeling of victory before returning to USYK or Fury. Joshua won Jermaine Franklin earlier, and Helenius was considered one of the appropriate rivals for Joshua to overcome the journey to conquer old titles.