Deontay Wilder was pleased to see Anthony Joshua knock Robert Helenius out in their fight in London on Saturday night, the American’s trainer Malik Scott has revealed.
Joshua beat Helenius in the seventh round with a crushing right hand and is now expected to fight Deontay Wilder next – possibly in January in Saudi Arabia.
But while the American has not yet publicly acknowledged Joshua’s victory, his trainer Scott has revealed some insight into the Bronze Bomber’s mindsight after watching the fight.
‘He (Wilder) was like “we needed that”. We both said the same thing because at first it was looking like it was getting ready to go the distance,’ Scott said to the October Red YouTube channel.
‘So when the knockout came I called him on FaceTime and he was like “I’m glad he got that, we needed it done just like that”.
Deontay Wilder was pleased to see Anthony Joshua beat Robert Helenius by KO in London
Joshua won in the seventh round and is widely expected to take on Deontay Wilder next
But British fighter Joshua was given some words of warning by Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott
‘So we’re both satisfied, the fight is bigger to me than it was because of the knockout, so shoutout to AJ to going out there and getting the job done.’
Malik insisted he saw nothing from Joshua to concern Wilder, though.
‘Was I really impressed besides the knockout? No. Did it give me type of feeling that we got some trouble coming in January? No.
‘It actually makes me more confident. I know that he only has three or four rounds in the ring with Deontay before he gets knocked out.
‘It went up to the [seventh] round, but before then – the story is that AJ was being patient. He wasn’t trying to go for the knockout. That’s the sales pitch. But I really look at it like he wasn’t taking chances early on.
‘And that’s like a good thing, especially when your next fight is possibly Deontay Wilder, who’s the hardest puncher in the history of the sport.
‘Deontay is a very dangerous fighter right now. Deontay is coming to send him to the next dimension and that is his intention. When he is not punching at you, he is punching through you.’
Helenius was a late replacement for Dillian Whyte, who was withdrawn from the fight in London after failing a drugs test just days before the showdown.
Wilder knocked Helenius out in the first round with one punch when they fought in New York
Joshua, meanwhile, got some needed time in the ring as the fight went to seven rounds
The Finnish heavyweight had fought in his homeland the weekend before and previously took Wilder on in New York last October – getting knocked out in the first round.
Scott added: ‘Most of all shoutout to Robert Helenius. It took a lot of courage to get in that ring with real killers especially on short notice.
‘He just fought Deontay last October, had one fight back and now he was right back in there fighting Anthony Joshua.’