Tweet
Robert Helenius: “Wladimir Klitschko is really good at beating smaller guys from a distance where they feel powerless from doing anything”
JENNA: A lot of people are saying it’s one of the best heavyweight fights they’ve seen in a long time. How do you feel about your performance?
HELENIUS: Yeah, of course I feel always that I could do better and maybe move more on my feet and stuff like that apart from my own distance. I don’t know. I just felt like I wanted to do some close combat and stuff like that, that I usually don’t do in the fights. But I’m pleased with my fight, yeah.
JENNA: Alright, now did he do anything in the ring that surprised you?
HELENIUS: No. I knew he was going to go. I was ready to go twelve rounds. I knew he was in good shape and he got like three and a half months time to prepare and he is very much experienced. So I knew he was going to be a tough guy.
JENNA: Well he did very well in the early rounds, and from your perspective what do you think you could have done differently to have had an easier time with him?
HELENIUS: Just like I said, maybe fight at a bit more distance and more jabbing and keeping distance. I think that would have worked great, but I don’t know. I was kind of lazy at some points in the fight I felt.
JENNA: One thing boxing fans have really complimented you on was your ability to finish Sergei Liakhovich when he was hurt. In the ninth round you had this beautiful combination with an uppercut. Can you tell us a little bit about the moment when you scored the knockout?
HELENIUS: Yeah I saw in round eight when I was starting to pursue him, I saw in his face that he was hit in all the rounds so many times that he was starting to get tired. I noticed that and I really tried to pressure and pursue him in the eighth round and I got him down on his knee. Then I knew I had to finish him in the ninth round. I did a really explosive uppercut and it landed perfectly, so after that I just said, “Now you’re going down”.
JENNA: A lot of fans are saying your fight with Liakhovich really stole the show over the fight between Povetkin and Chagaev. I’m curious, did you get a chance to see that matchup between those two guys?
HELENIUS: I saw in the locker room like a few rounds before, but I didn’t see the whole fight. It didn’t really look close to me in the first two rounds, but then I didn’t see so I can’t really comment on that.
JENNA: That’s fine, but as far as future opponents go where do you see Alexander Povetkin in your plans?
HELENIUS: It’s kind of hard for me to say. I plan everything with my manager and stuff like that so I can’t really tell. I’m just recovering from my last fight so I haven’t even started thinking about my next fight.
JENNA: You are getting a lot of fan praise saying you’re probably the most dangerous heavyweight out there right now. You’re undefeated, you have good size, and especially with two champions like the Klitschkos that are big, they say that you have the best chance to defeat them. Do you feel that way?
HELENIUS: Yeah, I’m not sure if I’m really ready for that yet. Maybe one or two or three fights maybe, just to make my confidence a little bit higher and to work on my stamina a little more maybe.
JENNA: Okay, well Robert we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff Ciani.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hi Robert. Congratulations on the victory and welcome back to the show.
HELENIUS: Thank you.
CIANI: I wanted to ask you Robert, you now have three knockout victories against former heavyweight world champions. How does that make you feel in itself?
HELENIUS: (laughs) It feels good, of course. You know, but I have trained also. I worked for it a long time, so of course it feels really good to show results.
CIANI: Now you said that you didn’t think you were quite ready for a Klitschko yet and that you might need a couple of more fights and some time to work on your stamina. Is your stamina the one area in your game then that you feel could use the most improvement?
HELENIUS: Yeah I think you could say that. My footwork and everything, you need really good conditioning to move around 110 kilos for twelve rounds. I feel really good. I wasn’t feeling tired in that last fight, but still I want to improve myself to give myself better self confidence. Then I can really go in there and beat them.
CIANI: Now Robert you have deceptive power in my opinion, where when I’m watching your fights on TV it doesn’t always look like you’re throwing the hardest punches, but the way that your opponents react when you hit them you can tell that you’re hitting them hard and you carry this power late into the fights, which is rare for heavyweights. How do you explain your ability to be able to carry your knockout power into the later rounds?
HELENIUS: Like I said I didn’t feel tired. I felt like he was just hanging around. I started to pursue him really, really hard and in the eighth round I got the knockdown. I don’t know. I felt really good I get more power from when I see the other guys getting tired, and I felt like that. We have trained for a lot of power, and maybe it’s the technique also. My hits come straight from the chin sometimes, so sometimes it’s really explosive, and I did a rhythmic change there in the eighth and ninth round with some really explosive punches, so I think that makes the punches even harder.
HELENIUS: Yeah, of course I feel always that I could do better and maybe move more on my feet and stuff like that apart from my own distance. I don’t know. I just felt like I wanted to do some close combat and stuff like that, that I usually don’t do in the fights. But I’m pleased with my fight, yeah.
JENNA: Alright, now did he do anything in the ring that surprised you?
HELENIUS: No. I knew he was going to go. I was ready to go twelve rounds. I knew he was in good shape and he got like three and a half months time to prepare and he is very much experienced. So I knew he was going to be a tough guy.
JENNA: Well he did very well in the early rounds, and from your perspective what do you think you could have done differently to have had an easier time with him?
HELENIUS: Just like I said, maybe fight at a bit more distance and more jabbing and keeping distance. I think that would have worked great, but I don’t know. I was kind of lazy at some points in the fight I felt.
JENNA: One thing boxing fans have really complimented you on was your ability to finish Sergei Liakhovich when he was hurt. In the ninth round you had this beautiful combination with an uppercut. Can you tell us a little bit about the moment when you scored the knockout?
HELENIUS: Yeah I saw in round eight when I was starting to pursue him, I saw in his face that he was hit in all the rounds so many times that he was starting to get tired. I noticed that and I really tried to pressure and pursue him in the eighth round and I got him down on his knee. Then I knew I had to finish him in the ninth round. I did a really explosive uppercut and it landed perfectly, so after that I just said, “Now you’re going down”.
JENNA: A lot of fans are saying your fight with Liakhovich really stole the show over the fight between Povetkin and Chagaev. I’m curious, did you get a chance to see that matchup between those two guys?
HELENIUS: I saw in the locker room like a few rounds before, but I didn’t see the whole fight. It didn’t really look close to me in the first two rounds, but then I didn’t see so I can’t really comment on that.
JENNA: That’s fine, but as far as future opponents go where do you see Alexander Povetkin in your plans?
HELENIUS: It’s kind of hard for me to say. I plan everything with my manager and stuff like that so I can’t really tell. I’m just recovering from my last fight so I haven’t even started thinking about my next fight.
JENNA: You are getting a lot of fan praise saying you’re probably the most dangerous heavyweight out there right now. You’re undefeated, you have good size, and especially with two champions like the Klitschkos that are big, they say that you have the best chance to defeat them. Do you feel that way?
HELENIUS: Yeah, I’m not sure if I’m really ready for that yet. Maybe one or two or three fights maybe, just to make my confidence a little bit higher and to work on my stamina a little more maybe.
JENNA: Okay, well Robert we’re also on the line with my Co-Host Geoff Ciani.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hi Robert. Congratulations on the victory and welcome back to the show.
HELENIUS: Thank you.
CIANI: I wanted to ask you Robert, you now have three knockout victories against former heavyweight world champions. How does that make you feel in itself?
HELENIUS: (laughs) It feels good, of course. You know, but I have trained also. I worked for it a long time, so of course it feels really good to show results.
CIANI: Now you said that you didn’t think you were quite ready for a Klitschko yet and that you might need a couple of more fights and some time to work on your stamina. Is your stamina the one area in your game then that you feel could use the most improvement?
HELENIUS: Yeah I think you could say that. My footwork and everything, you need really good conditioning to move around 110 kilos for twelve rounds. I feel really good. I wasn’t feeling tired in that last fight, but still I want to improve myself to give myself better self confidence. Then I can really go in there and beat them.
CIANI: Now Robert you have deceptive power in my opinion, where when I’m watching your fights on TV it doesn’t always look like you’re throwing the hardest punches, but the way that your opponents react when you hit them you can tell that you’re hitting them hard and you carry this power late into the fights, which is rare for heavyweights. How do you explain your ability to be able to carry your knockout power into the later rounds?
HELENIUS: Like I said I didn’t feel tired. I felt like he was just hanging around. I started to pursue him really, really hard and in the eighth round I got the knockdown. I don’t know. I felt really good I get more power from when I see the other guys getting tired, and I felt like that. We have trained for a lot of power, and maybe it’s the technique also. My hits come straight from the chin sometimes, so sometimes it’s really explosive, and I did a rhythmic change there in the eighth and ninth round with some really explosive punches, so I think that makes the punches even harder.
Comment