BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Deontay Wilder is back.
"The Bronze Bomber" destroyed Robert Helenius in a first-round knockout to win their scheduled 12-round WBC heavyweight title semi-eliminator Saturday evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
With the win, Wilder, a former WBC titleholder, will face former unified champion Andy Ruiz in a final eliminator in 2023.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs), who weighed in at 214½ pounds on Friday, looked much fresher than the 238-pound version we saw last October against Tyson Fury. He kept the heavier Helenius on his toes throughout the first round with movement.
The Finnish fighter, however, fell for the trap. Wilder retreated to the ropes, where he uncorked his signature right hand as Helenius attempted to land a shot of his own with his chin exposed.
Helenius (31-4, 20 KOs), who was coming off two straight knockout wins over Adam Kownacki and served as a sparring partner for Wilder's bouts with Fury, collapsed like a ton of bricks. And just like that, Wilder was back in the winner's column.
"I knew what he is capable of," Wilder said after the bout. "I didn't take him for granted. I could look in his eyes. He wanted to be [the first Finnish] heavyweight champion.
"But instead of staring at 3,360 diamonds, 600 sapphires, 300 emeralds and 1.5 kilograms of solid, 24-karat gold -- Helenius was staring up at the ceiling of the Barclays Center, with no jewels in site.
Wilder, who only needed three punches to destroy Helenius, was fighting for the first time since he suffered an 11th-round knockout at the hands of Tyson Fury in their trilogy last October.
Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs), the current WBC champion, was able to deal with Wilder's power—the only one to this point who has. In their three fights. He was able to recover from a total of four total knockdowns. But Helenius, like so many Wilder opponents, could only stare at the ceiling in disbelief.
Wilder made 10 defenses of the WBC title over a five-year period before losing to Fury in their second back via seventh-round TKO back in February 2020.
In his next fight, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist could take on Oleksandr Usyk, who holds three heavyweight titles, or Ruiz. Both men have wins over Anthony Joshua, though Ruiz was the only one who scored the knockout.
