It’s been just over 50 years since Ingemar Johansson ruled the Heavyweight division. Since then no Scandinavian fighter has threatened to make his mark on Boxing’s most famous division that is unless you want to include Brian Nielson…no thought not. That could all be about to change however with the emergence of Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius. The 26 year old boxer debuted in May 2008 and has moved quickly. A year into his career he stopped former British Champion Scott Gammer in six. Then last October the Finnish Boxer stopped Taras Bidenko in the third round he followed it up just a few weeks back when he turned back battle hardened former World Champion Lamon Brewster. At a strapping 6’6 and a svelte 240+ pounds Helenius took apart his more experienced foe. Whether Helenius is ultimately a Johansson or a Neilson is still to be decided but if he doesn’t reach the promised land of untold riches that being Heavyweight champion of the world it wont be because he isn’t willing to test himself.
Hello Robert, welcome to 15rounds.com
Anson Wainwright – You recently beat former World champion Lamon Brewster. What can you tell us about that fight? How pleased were you with your performance? What did beating Brewster do for your confidence?
Robert Helenius – Of course it was a really good fight. I was in good shape and everything worked well. Everything worked fine. I did almost everything that my coach said and that lead me to victory. He said I should throw 1-2 punches – I did that and Lamon was on the floor in the second round.
Anson Wainwright – Do you know where and when you will be back in action? How about an opponent?
Robert Helenius – My promoters are planning a fight in Finland sometime soon. It would be great to fight there again!
Anson Wainwright – Three of your last four opponents have stepped you up in terms of competition. Is this something you will continue to do?
Robert Helenius – That is entirely up to the trainer and the promoter. I fight everybody they throw at me.
Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about your team, who is your manager, trainer & promoter? Where do you train for your upcoming fights?
Robert Helenius – I train in Berlin most of the time with Ulli Wegner and Georg Bramoswki. My promoter is Team Sauerland, the matchmaker is Hagen Doering and the manager is Wilfried Sauerland.
Anson Wainwright – Though you were born in Sweden you were raised in Finland which has no history of Boxing. How did you you first get into Boxing?
Robert Helenius – Through my father – he was a trainer in our hometown and he had trained for maybe 20 years and he got me started. He had a lot of boxers in Finnish championships and won lots of medals with them. I started at the age of 14.
Anson Wainwright – Can you tell us about how you progressed through the amateur’s. What titles you won and what your final record was?
Robert Helenius – My biggest success was the silver medal at the European Championships in 2006!
Anson Wainwright – When your not Boxing what do you like to do away from Boxing?
Robert Helenius – I love to spend time with my family – we´ve got two young children and I really enjoy being around them!
Anson Wainwright – What is your career plan for this year? What are your goals in the coming years?
Robert Helenius – That is entirely up to my promoter and trainer and what they think is good for me, I want to be a champion one day but we have to take things slowly. There are still a lot of things I need to work on – I can keep improving every day.
Anson Wainwright – Who has been the toughest opponent to date? What is your best performance?
Robert Helenius – The Brewster TKO…for now!
Anson Wainwright – Who was your boxing hero growing up and why?
Robert Helenius – When I grew up I really loved to watch Lennox Lewis – and Muhammad Ali of course.
Thanks for your time Robert, keep up the good work.
My pleasure. Please send my regards to all the Boxing fans in Ameica!
Anson Wainwright
15rounds.com
