The biggest fight of Robert Helenius’ boxing career ended like a lightning strike.
Last October, a heavyweight boxer Robert Helenius was knocked out in the first round in the main event in New York Deontay Wilder against.
Helenius returned to the events of the October evening Mightily In the Efter Nio program. Bronze Bomber the knocking blow put Helenius’s lights out instantly, and he has no memory of the minutes that followed.
– It’s interesting, because I don’t remember leaving the ring. I remember that I woke up in the ambulance and asked how the match went, Helenius tells Yle.
Helenius’ condition also worried the coach. The boxer laughed in the interview that the knockout doesn’t really feel like anything when you indulge in the “knuckle anesthesia”.
Deontay Wilder knocked Robert Helenius to the mat with a knockout. Zumawire/MVphotos
– There were doctors who examined and followed me. The coach was worried because I didn’t recognize him or the others who were there.
In the case of head injuries, the consequences can be serious and long-lasting, but Helenius seemed to survive with a start. He quickly recovered and met Wilder the next night. The men, who had known each other for a long time, hugged and thanked each other for the match.
Helenius said he was grateful for the opportunity to fight Wilder. At the same time, he added that he would stay away from top boxing. However, Helenius has not made an official decision to retire, although according to the Yle article, he promised to end his career after the third knockout.
– That was it. I’m 38 years old and I’ve been doing this for 25 years, Helenius told Wilder.
Wilder had tears in his eyes as he described his feelings after the knockout.
– It hurt my heart to see you on the ground, because I consider you my brother. And I never want to hurt my brother, Wilder said.
For research
Robert Helenius has been spared serious head injuries. Jussi Eskola
Since the age of 18, Helenius has had his brain examined regularly. Magnetic resonance imaging examines that there is no bleeding in the brain. Fortunately, Wilder’s knockout blow was not devastating.
– No change for the worse has been observed. The brain is fine.
Helenius will soon turn 40 and doesn’t know what direction his career will take. The risk of getting a brain injury in the next match naturally affects the decision.
– I want there to be life even after boxing, says Helenius in Yle’s program.
– Boxing is not the whole life. I have children too. There are jobs.