Comments Thread For: Robert Helenius-Gregory Tony For EU Title on August 21

[The Hammer]

Gregory has probably already seen his best days at 32 years of age.

I figured you'd post something like that. Discrediting Helenius even before the fight?

Age 32 is usually PRIME for a heavyweight, especially for someone who's not had a lot of fights like Tony.

Vitali the WBC champ turns 39 in a few weeks.

[TheGreatA]

I've seen some of Gregory's boxing and kickboxing bouts also. Helenius shouldn't have too many problems winning, but it's a decent test with both men being 12-0 at this point in their careers, although Gregory has probably already seen his best days at 32 years of age. Then again he could be another Matt Skelton who went on until his mid 40's.

I thought Helenius was going to fight Claus Bertino.

I figured you'd post something like that. Discrediting Helenius even before the fight?

Age 32 is usually PRIME for a heavyweight, especially for someone who's not had a lot of fights like Tony.

Vitali the WBC champ turns 39 in a few weeks.

The point I'm making is that Helenius is 12-0 at 26 years of age while Gregory is 12-0 at 32 years of age with a full kickboxing career behind him. There's no doubt about who's the serious prospect here and who's the "opponent". But as I said, and which you didn't acknowledge, Gregory could very well turn out to be a spoiler like Skelton, who also took up the sport at an even later age. So it could be a decent test for Helenius.

I'm properly evaluating Helenius's opponent, not making him out to be any more than he is, nor any less.

[TheGreatA]

Kickboxing fight between Gregory and Alexander Ustinov, who is 20-0 as a pro:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3n...-gregory_sport

[The Hammer]

Gregory has probably already seen his best days at 32 years of age.

I'm properly evaluating Helenius's opponent, not making him out to be any more than he is, nor any less.

Age 32 isn't past prime for a heavyweight, especially for one who hasn't had a lot of fights.

[TheGreatA]

Age 32 isn't past prime for a heavyweight, especially for one who hasn't had a lot of fights.

It depends entirely on the fighter. I'd say that the minor success that Gregory had as a K-1 kickboxer will go down as the best success he had in his career, but I could be wrong.

[The Hammer]

It depends entirely on the fighter. I'd say that the minor success that Gregory had as a K-1 kickboxer will go down as the best success he had in his career, but I could be wrong.

So if Helenius wins, it won't mean much, right?

[TheGreatA]

So if Helenius wins, it won't mean much, right?

I'll decide how much it means for his career and progress after viewing the fight. At the moment, as I've stated on numerous occasions, it seems like a decent test for him against an unbeaten veteran fighter (though not veteran boxer), but one he should be able to overcome without too many difficulties due to his talent level. I'm fully expecting him to go as far as a world title shot. A fight like this doesn't mean a whole lot in the big picture.

[The Hammer]

A fight like this doesn't mean a whole lot

I disagree, it's the next logical step forward. I think it would be a good win against a talented, undefeated, PRIME opponent.

Muhammed Ali fought Don Warner (12-6) who had been KOed three times for his 12th fight, and a boxer who had lost two of his previous three fights for his 13th fight.

Why don't you like Robert Helenius? Does he have a different religion than you or something like that?

[TheGreatA]

I disagree, it's the next logical step forward. I think it would be a good win against a talented, undefeated, PRIME opponent.

Again you took a quote out of context. It doesn't mean a whole lot in the big picture, as in, the fight is not going to define his career by any means, unless he loses that is, which he won't. It wouldn't even matter to me if
Helenius fought an utter journeyman at this point. I'm simply evaluating his opposition. He will get his chance to fight the best in the future as he is being properly developed.

Muhammed Ali fought Don Warner (12-6) who had been KOed three times for his 12th fight, and a boxer who had lost two of his previous three fights for his 13th fight.

And 16-0, top 10 ranked Billy Daniels in his 14th fight at 20 years of age.

Some fighters fought better opponents in their 12th fight, some worse. I don't see why it matters. I never once have said that Helenius is being brought along slowly or that this isn't an appropriate opponent for him, in fact I've said quite the opposite, feeling that Helenius shouldn't be put up against world class foes quite yet. An opponent like Gregory, once again, is a decent test for him.

Why don't you like Robert Helenius? Does he have a different religion than you or something like that?

Where exactly have you gotten the idea that I don't like him? If I didn't care for him I wouldn't post about him, he's the best thing going on for Finnish boxing at the moment and he doesn't necessarily even recognize himself as Finnish, considering that he fights out of Sweden and lives in Germany. It'd still have a huge impact on boxing's popularity here if he were able to make it on top level. I'm all for it.

[The Hammer]

And 16-0, top 10 ranked Billy Daniels in his 14th fight at 20 years of age.

He shouldn't have been ranked as a top ten heavyweight. Records can be deceiving.

After fighting Clay, Billy Daniels went on to win only 7 of his next 32 fights!