By Per Ake Persson
Heavyweight contenders Robert 'the Nordic Nightmare' Helenius (22-0) of Finland and Frenchman Johann 'Reptile' Duhaupas (33-3) will collide for the vacant WBC Silver championship on April 2 at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
The fight was officially announced today at a press conference. The show is promoted by Loud N Live Promotions Ltd in association with J-Suge SLU and The Queen of Boxing LLC.
Financially, this is said to be the most expensive fight ever in Finland.
Helenius vs. Franz Rill, which took place in December for the vacant EBU title, drew 11,500 fans to the Hartwall Arena with 60,000 pay-per-view sales.
Duhaupas fought WBC world champion Deontay Wilder last year. He was stopped in the eleventh round in the second longest fight of Wilder's career.
Helenius has also been in the picture for a fight against Wilder and in the event of a win against ”the Reptile” he should be a notch closer to a title fight. As for Wilder, he has a mandatory obligation to satisfy with against Alexander Povetkin in the coming months - with a purse bid set for February 26th in Mexico City.
