Anthony Joshua news LIVE: AJ and Robert Helenius weigh in ahead of heavyweight fight

Joshua vs Helenius will take place on Saturday 12 August at the O2 Arena in London.

The main card is due to begin at 7pm BST (11am PT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET). Ring walks for the main event are then expected at around 10pm BST (2pm PT, 4pm CT, 5pm ET).

The event will stream live on Dazn. A subscription to the streaming platform is available to purchase here, with monthly plans starting at £9.99.

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In recent years, it has become quite fashionable to criticise Anthony Joshua. At times, it has been relatively easy to. In the years since the heavyweight became the darling of British boxing, he has won world titles, lost them, regained them and lost them again – to the dismay of some and delight of others. Even in victory, he is susceptible to backlash, as was most evident in the reactions to his points win over Jermaine Franklin in April.

There was scepticism in these pages, admittedly, when Joshua laboured to a decision win against the American. Never mind that it was a vital victory in the aftermath of two straight losses to Oleksandr Usyk, and that it was a first bout under Joshua’s new coach Derrick James; it was an underwhelming outing, one that left even “AJ” disappointed in himself.

And when comparing Joshua to his heavyweight colleagues, it is easy to find faults in the 33-year-old. He is not a technician like Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk; he has become gun shy, unlike the trigger-happy Deontay Wilder; he no longer holds an unbeaten record or the titles that some of those fighters possess. Yet there is one area in which Joshua has recently, consistently set himself apart from many of the key heavyweight characters.

What is it? Find out here:

“Boxing is already a hard, hard sport without people taking drugs,” Derek Chisora said yesterday, ahead of his undercard fight with Gerald Washington on Saturday.

“I think they should put a new rule in now. If you get caught, this is for the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), it’s going to have to be a 10-year ban straight away.”

Robert Helenius references Tyson Fury and Alexander Povetkin as high-profile heavyweights to have tested positive for a banned substance before returning to the sport, with both men boxing on the biggest stage thereafter. “How is this possible?” Helenius asks, incredulously. “Either they should legalise everything for everybody, or have the same standard for everybody.

“Of course it feels like I’m at a disadvantage, because I don’t have that luxury of doing that stuff – because they come to my home to do my blood tests and everything, all the time. It’s not fair, but who said that life should be fair?

“My doping is: I have a really high level of Viking blood in me!”

More here, including Joshua’s thoughts on boxing’s doping ‘problem’:

Campbell Hatton, son of British boxing icon Ricky, will fight on the Joshua vs Helenius undercard this weekend.

Campbell, 22, takes on Tom Ansell at super-lightweight in a bid to improve his 12-0 (5 KOs) record.

Robert Helenius puts it bluntly: “In Finland, if I would be caught, I would be lynched for my whole life.”

The 39-year-old Finn is the biggest – perhaps only – beneficiary in this week’s saga, which has seen Dillian Whyte return an ‘adverse finding’ in a drug test, causing him to be pulled from his main event with Anthony Joshua. Helenius, on seven days’ notice, will now fight Joshua at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, but he is still damning of a situation that has handed him one of the biggest bouts of his career.

“Of course it’s a problem, because I don’t think everybody’s on the same level,” he tells reporters on Wednesday. “I think some boxers have some privileges that others don’t. I think anti-doping should be the same in every country. For example, in your country, when Dillian gets caught, nobody cares. I would get a two-year minimum [ban], or I would never get a licence again.”

Joshua remains calmer on the topic – stunningly so, given how this week has affected him, and considering that he was burnt by a short-notice fight with Andy Ruiz in June 2019, after his original opponent Jarrell Miller tested positive for multiple banned substances. “It happens in boxing,” Joshua says. “It’s not the first time it’s happened. [It’s happening more], so I wasn’t so surprised to be honest.”

Joshua, 33, also plays down suggestions that he might be ‘disgusted’ with Whyte, or even just ‘angry’. Remarkably, the Briton is generous enough to give some fighters the benefit of the doubt. “I hope it’s a mistake [with Whyte], but that’s why I have to invest in these tests, etc, and now I ask the team: ‘Can they get Helenius tested as well?’ It’s important to make sure we’re on top of these things. I actually don’t know what Dillian was caught with, I don’t know what was in his system. I don’t wish Dillian any bad. His reputation is tarnished, it’s not good for him.”

Full article:

Chisora: “I think there should be a new rule now: If you get caught taking any [banned substance], it’s gonna have to be a 10-year ban straight away.

“Because... how about you hit that kid and he dies? What are you gonna do?”