Anthony Joshua dealt with a late change of opponent after a slow start, and eventually scored a seventh round knockout against Robert Helenius at the O2 Arena, London on Saturday.
Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) had to refocus his efforts on Helenius (32-5, 21 KOs), as opposed to Dillian Whyte, who returned an adverse VADA test with a week to go until fight night, and he turned in a pedestrian performance, before finding the punch to turn Helenius’ lights out.
‘AJ’ worked well off his jab in a sedate opening round, and the Watford man seemed happy to study his opponent, and ease his way into the contest in round two.
The 33-year-old, who outpointed Jermaine Franklin in April, finally unleashed a power right hand in the third that troubled ‘The Nordic Nightmare’ momentarily, although the left eye of Joshua was showing signs of swelling.
The home favourite started to step on the gas in the fifth, picking the pace up and landing with sharp right hands, but the Finn was growing in confidence, and landed with some clean shots of his own during the round.
The crowd were growing impatient as Joshua seemed intent on not overcommitting, and the end came from relatively nowhere in the seventh.
Joshua touched Helenius to the body, and uncorked a raking right hand that flattened him on impact, and the fight was wisely waved off with the visitor motionless.
Thoughts now turn to a clash with Deontay Wilder, with representatives from Saudi Arabia, who plan on staging the fight, in attendance.
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Chisora outpoints Washington
Derek Chisora continues to campaign in the sport, and the Finchley-based heavyweight may now seriously need to question his time remaining in the paid ranks, despite taking a ten round decision against fellow gatekeeper Gerald Washington.
Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) was badly cut in the second round above his right eye, and largely laboured, looking a far more faded version of himself in his first fight since losing to Tyson Fury for a third time in December.
Although Washington (20-6-1, 13 KOs) didn’t offer much either in this one, the scores after ten rounds were generous in Chisora’s favour, at 98-93, 97-94, and 96-94.
Hrgovic halts Mckean
Filip Hrgovic protected his mandatory status for Oleksandr Usyk’s IBF heavyweight title, stopping the previously unbeaten, Demsey McKean (22-1, 14 KOs) in the final round of twelve.
The Croatian started well enough, but then looked sapped of energy in the middle rounds before finding a second wind late on.
The last round looked like it would pass by, until Hrgovic (16-0, 13 KOs) found a chopping right hand that had the Aussie tottering and defenceless, and, with only the ropes holding him up, the referee began the count, and then waved the contest off.
Fisher secures Southern Area title
Johnny Fisher took the first title of his career, the vacant Southern Area heavyweight belt, as he dropped Harry Armstrong early on, on the way to eventually scoring a seventh round stoppage.
Fisher (10-0, 9 KOs) swarmed over Armstrong (5-2-1) from the very start, flooring the 30-year-old heavily with multiple punches in the first 15 seconds, but he survived the count, and grew into the contest.
’The Romford Bull’ was forced to work hard, and the breakthrough came in the seventh, when a massive overhand right connected, and only the ropes held Armstrong up.
Under heavy fire, the towel came in as the referee was calling a halt to the action.
Remaining Undercard
Campbell Hatton (13-0, 5 KOs) banked another useful eight rounds, this time taking a 78-74 win against Tom Ansell (10-5, 2 KOs) at super lightweight.
George Liddard (4-0, 3 KOs) went the distance for the first time, and came through 59-55 in a breathless middleweight clash with Bas Oosterweghel (5-2, 3 KOs).
19-year-old Brandon Scott (6-0, 1 KO) stayed unbeaten, with the super featherweight taking all six rounds against Leicester’s Louis Norman (14-14-1, 2 KOs).
Maisey-Rose Courtney (4-0) opened the show, and won all six rounds against the game Gemma Ruegg (7-8, 1 KO).
