Karl Helenius does not believe that his son made the decision to quit.
A terrifying moment was witnessed at the Barclays Center when Deontay Wilder slammed Robert Helenius to the canvas. zumwire/mvphotos.com
Karl Helenius describes his son of Robert Helenius short match Deontay Wilder to “a big disappointment”.
– I won’t even try to explain it, it was just a bad performance from Robert. Robert knows much better. I was pretty sure the night before that match that Robert would win it, Helenius tells Iltalehte.
The victory was out of reach when Wilder landed a fatal right to the Finn’s face in the first round.
When Robert Helenius lay on the canvas with glazed eyes, many were concerned about the Finn’s condition.
– When you see it through the eyes of a father, you certainly pray with your hands folded. That nothing worse had happened.
Luckily it wasn’t. Helenius got the coach at the end of a harsh Whatsapp messages rumba from Johan Lindström the knowledge that the tests have been cleared with honors. Hearing Robbe’s voice was also calming, because the speech sounded normal.
No termination decision
On Sunday, ESNEWS published a video of Helenius and Wilder meeting after the match. In it, the 38-year-old from Åland says to his opponent that “this was it”.
Father Helenius is of the opinion that no final conclusions should be drawn from the testimony yet.
– It’s emotional. It’s the first feeling that it was here now. They will certainly sit down (Helenius, Lindström and the manager Markus Sundman) and analyzed through what went wrong.
Helenius, who previously worked as his son’s coach and manager, is still well aware of Robbe’s training and plans, but does not want to influence the big decision.
– I’m not involved in deciding it, but he decides it himself in the end. Such a smart guy. Not all the juices have been knocked out of the brain yet, “Kalle” carves in his hirsute style.
After returning to Finland, Helenius heads to Lapland to recharge his batteries.
Karl Helenius worried about his son’s condition. Jussi Eskola