Derek Chisora went 12 rounds with a much more formidable, durable version of Robert Helenius in December 2011.
Finland’s Helenius was undefeated when he edged England’s Chisora by split decision at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki. More than 11 years later, Chisora doesn’t expect a 39-year-old Helenius to last long with Anthony Joshua on Saturday night.
Chisora predicted during a press conference Wednesday in London that Joshua should stop Helenius by the third round of a main event scheduled for 12 rounds at O2 Arena in London.
London’s Chisora, who is also 39, was asked about the Joshua-Helenius bout because he will meet an opponent who knocked out Helenius four years ago, Gerald Washington, in a 10-rounder on their undercard.
“Listen, I’ve shared the ring 12 rounds with him, yeah,” Chisora told promoter Eddie Hearn, who moderated the press conference. “This man [Gerald Washington] knocked him out. How many rounds you knocked him out in? Eight rounds. So, you know, I did 12, [Washington] did eight. So, I think AJ should knock him out in the third round, fair and square.”
Hearn replied “fingers crossed” to Chisora’s prediction.
“No, no, no. Not fingers crossed,” Chisora said. “I’m gonna tell AJ, ‘You need to knock this guy out, so we can have an early night home.’ ”
Helenius (32-4, 21 KOs) has been knocked out by French veteran Johann Duhaupas, Washington and most recently former WBC champ Deontay Wilder, whose right hand rendered Helenius unable to continue late in the first round last October 15 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The 33-year-old Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) has knocked out only one of his last six opponents.
The former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champ has gone the 12-round distance in each of his last three fights. He last scored a knockout in December 2020, when he beat Bulgarian contender Kubrat Pulev in the ninth round at OVO Arena Wembley in London.
Chisora, meanwhile, will fight for the first time since his one-sided, 10th-round, technical-knockout loss to unbeaten WBC champ Tyson Fury on December 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Though 1-4 in his past five fights, FanDuel still lists Chisora (33-13, 23 KOs) as a 7-1 favorite to defeat Washington (20-5-1, 13 KOs), a former NFL defensive end who has been stopped in each of his last two bouts by former IBF champ Charles Martin (29-4-1, 26 KOs) and Turkish contender Ali Demirezen (17-1, 12 KOs).
DAZN will stream Chisora-Washington as part of Joshua-Helenius undercard coverage scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. BST in the United Kingdom and 2 p.m. EDT in the United States.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.