By Per Ake Persson
When Robert Helenius (17-0, 11KOs) beat Dereck Chisora in Helsinki last December to win the vacant EBU title on a disputed decision, much of the Nordic Nightmare´s lackluster perfomance was blamed on the injury to the right hand that he suffered in the first round.
However, nothing was said about the right shoulder which Robert injured six weeks before the fight. At the time of the injury, the advice from a doctor was to rest for two months but Helenius and Team Sauerland made a joint decision to continue training and the injury got worse and now it's being reported that a tendon is ruptured and there´s an injury to the collarbone as well.
Today in Rome, there would have been purse bids for Helenius vs. Alexander Dimitrenko but instead the soon-to-be former EBU heavyweight champ awaits surgery on Thursday and will be out of the ring for at least six months - and the doctors have even hinted that hisshoulder never may get well enough for boxing.
"For me, losing the title doesn´t matter, says Robert to Hufvudstadsbladet. "The most important thing is that the shoulder heals up and that I can continue my career. I feel an enourmous amount of motivation to continue with boxing."
As for the vacant EBU title, it seems like Robert´s stablemate Kubrat Pulev gets a lucky break and is likely going to be named mandatory challenger but if the opponent is Alexander Dimitrenko - also sidelined with an injury - or someone else, appears to be an open question.
Helenius, highly ranked by all the major sanctioning bodies, also holds the WBA and WBO I/C titles.