Robert Helenius Earns a historic amount

We are talking about a seven-figure sum.

Such a tough day of reckoning Robert Helenius most likely to get in Brooklyn this weekend. Helenius faces “The Bronze Bomber”, a knockout machine Deontay Wilder.

It is the biggest match ever seen in Finnish professional boxing. After the previous victory, it was stated from the team that Helenius will no longer enter the ring with less than a million.

– Helenius has been in the right place at the right time. I’d bet his price tag is also appropriate, which is why he’s been considered the best possible opponent in the US for Deontay Wilder at this point, IL Martial Arts Expert Jaakko Dahlbacka ponders.

If Wilder’s name had been brought up for Helenius in July 2019, many would have turned their heads.

At that time, Helenius lost To Gerald Washington. The Finnish giant was knocked out in the eighth round.

Of course, there was a victory over the already faded one Erkan from Teperi. Before that, Helenius needed full batches Juri Bihautsoun to win by points – even twice. The career was helplessly turning towards its final plunge.

– I myself was of the opinion that against Washington was the last place to show. Fortunately, I was wrong, Dahlbacka admits.

Sauerland and disputes

A few years earlier, the cooperation between Helenius and the German Sauerland team had ended. Money disputes almost had to be settled in court. In addition, Helenius’ right hand was broken several times at the beginning of the last decade.

– For sure, the years in Germany were on the plus side in terms of sports – I can’t say about financial matters. Helenius is an EC silver medalist in amateurs, and with this history from Finland it is really difficult to put effort into anything.

– Getting into the Sauerland machinery was a tough thing. They practiced really systematically there Ulli Wegnerin under. We certainly wouldn’t have gotten to this point without Sauerland’s machinery. Not all marriages last forever, and even that ended quite contentiously, Dahlbacka estimates.

Helenius accused himself of being blue-eyed when Sauerland sat on the other side of the negotiation table.

Wegner was heavily criticized in the book Stories of a thousand and one blows (Docendo, 2021),

– Testosterone levels dropped so much that the bones started to become brittle. We had other disagreements. For example, in sparring, Wegner wanted that if the place came, the training opponent must be knocked out.

– I said what’s the point. I’d rather take the coach’s shout than start hitting the crowd. You can beat a sack to the end, but not people, Helenius wondered in the work.

In addition to the previous money problems, the corona struck. The pandemic drove Helenius’ team into dire financial straits. Helenius himself has said that because of the expensive camping, money had to be borrowed even for food.

The right man was found

Wegner’s experience in boxing is on a completely different level than that of Helenius’ current coach Johan Lindström. However, the rise of Helenius has shown that CV alone does not train athletes to the top of the world.

– Lindström isn’t really even a boxer. He has a bit of freestyle and personal trainer background. The benefit that Lindström has brought is mental well-being. In Åland, Robbe has not been ridden like a trotting horse in a German gym. Johan has been the right man in Robbe’s life.

In the above episode of Kulmamieste, Dahlbacka tells how Helenius’s changed nature can now be seen in the boxing ring.

Robert Helenius and Deontay Wilder will meet between Saturday and Sunday in Brooklyn, New York. You can watch the competition studio hosted by Dahlbacka Overkill from the Live Twitch channel.