Boxing consequence and response after AJ delivers brutal knockout

It was at 1 / 4 to midnight that Anthony Joshua turned out the lights on Robert Helenius. Several minutes later, they lastly got here again on.

The proper hand got here out of nowhere, hidden behind a pair of feinted jabs, and it turned the tide on a wave of boos within the O2 Arena, after the gang had appeared to activate Joshua. The Briton, 33, has been accused for a while now of being gun shy, however when he lastly discovered the set off on Saturday, he throttled it.

It was killer intuition, coupled with god-given energy, that allowed Joshua to rise by means of the game shortly and impressively regardless of his late begin. The ‘sweet science’ aspect of the sport seemingly solely appealed to him after he was shocked by Andy Ruiz Jr, and “AJ” employed parts of that strategy of their rematch to assemble a sensible, secure efficiency and win on factors. ‘Safe’ could be the important thing phrase there, nonetheless, and it does trace on the draw back to Joshua making an attempt so as to add one other string to his crossbow; that improvement additionally appeared to point a worry of letting unfastened – of risking ending up in a firefight.

His curiosity in that tact elevated after his first loss to Oleksandr Usyk, by which the Briton was discombobulated by the southpaw’s pace, angles and invention. Joshua tried to adapt of their rematch, however – though he improved upon his earlier displaying – he was outboxed once more.

David Haye: “I’d like to see him of the calibre of Helenius, and treat him like Wilder, you can’t stand there jabbing against Wilder. It doesn’t work against Wilder. Would that performance have beaten Usyk? No.”

Andy Lee: “I could see Helenius, he was slowing down. Joshua was figuring things out. He was hesitant. The way the world works, those previous six rounds, forget about them, the knockout will go around the world. He needs another two or three fights.

“Wilder is technically not great, but he’s devastating, you can’t be hesitating with him. He’s a man of the people though, Joshua.”

Darren Barker: “We got what we wanted, AJ got what he wanted. There’s no doubt AJ wanted a knockout, going into the blockbuster against Wilder.

“It’s a fight that’s been in the making for a long time. Imagine the energy. Wilder will be straight in his face.

“There’s so much money on the table, so many fans, everybody wants to see that fight. Usually people get what they want.”

Bellew provides: “When you go back in the ring after being stopped, it can haunt you for a while.

“It’ll take knockout victories like this. Kabayel? Too scared.

“When you get done, you find out your vulnerabilities.”

DAZN boxing analyst Barry Jones: “There’s still a confidence issue. He’s still not punching through the target.

“He’s throwing the right hand too far out. He’s committed to the jab, when he throws the right hand, it’s done.

“The right hand is always falling a bit short. He’s lacking that confidence since Ruiz 1.

“Once you do it, you believe it, I think now we’ll see a more confidence Anthony Joshua.”

“Greatness don’t rush, he took his time, landed a heavy shot. The fans should be grateful, no fear, put in a great performance, I’m happy to see him get up. Big congrats to the UK,” says McGregor.

“KSI is here… He wants to come in here, and we’ll give him a bare knuckle fight.”

“It’s the fight we want, it’s a three-fight plan, Helenius, Deontay Wilder, then Tyson Fury. That’s the ambition of the team. Things have changed, he’s a mature heavyweight. He took his time and delivered one of the knockouts of the year. He’s smarter, he’ll take his time.

“It’s dangerous coming in, everybody expects one round, two rounds, three rounds. He saved the show. It’s a box ticked, now it’s Wilder in January. Saudi Arabia want a January date, Shelly texted me with a fingers crossed, it’s one of the biggest fights of all time.”