Ahead of Anthony Joshua’s fight with late replacement opponent Robert Helenius this weekend, we assess how ‘AJ’ has performed against stand-in opponent in the past. Joshua has fought two replacement opponents throughout his professional boxing career to date.
Anthony Joshua Record Against Late Replacement Opponents
With Anthony Joshua fighting a late replacement opponent on four days notice this Saturday night, here at SportsLens we have decided to assess Anthony Joshua’s record against stand-in opponents.
This isn’t the first time that ‘AJ’ has had a fight cancelled, with a replacement opponent stepping in on short notice to fight the British heavyweight superstar.
This weekend, it is indeed Robert Helenius who has stepped in on short notice to save the show on August 12th and face the former two-time world heavyweight champion. This is the third time in his professional boxing career that Joshua has had to fight a late replacement opponent.
The first time it happened to ‘AJ’ was back in October 2017, with Carlos Takam stepping in on two weeks notice to face the then unified world heavyweight champion at the Principality Stadium in Wales. The original opponent was meant to be the IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.
It more famously happened again for Joshua in June 2019, when making his American debut at the historic Madison Square Garden. After Jarrell Miller popped hot for multiple performance enhancing drugs, Andy Ruiz Jr stepped in on one months notice to challenge for the WBA-Super, WBO and IBF World Heavyweight Titles.
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Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam – 28th October 2017
Carlos Takam stepped in on two weeks notice to face Anthony Joshua at the Principality Stadium back in October 2017. The Frenchman was given the shot at Joshua’s world titles after Kubrat Pulev was forced to pull out through injury with just two weeks to go until fight night.
Less than two weeks before the fight, rumours began to circulate that Pulev had suffered an injury, putting the fight in jeopardy. The rumours proved to be true, leading Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn to announce that Takam had stepped in to replace Pulev with just 12 days notice.
The heavyweight contender had the chance to upset the apple cart and hand ‘AJ’ the first defeat of his career. This was Joshua’s first fight after that incredible bout with the great Wladimir Klitschko.
Hearn also revealed that during the initial negotiations with Pulev, he had also been negotiating with Takam to be held in reserve as a replacement in the event that Pulev pulled out.
On fight night, Joshua somewhat underwhelmed and underperformed against the late replacement Takam. Joshua did win the fight in the 10th round via knockout, but didn’t perform to his usual devastating best on the night. Nevertheless, it was a win for Anthony Joshua against a stand-in opponent.
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Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Jr – 1st June 2019
The second time Anthony Joshua had to face a late replacement opponent was on his American debut at Madison Square Garden on 1st June 2019. The then 22-0 heavyweight, who had 21 knockouts on his record, was set to face bitter rival Jarrell Miller in New York City for his first fight outside of the UK.
Joshua, who at the time held three of the four recognised world heavyweight titles, didn’t have the opportunity to face ‘Big Baby’ in the end. This is because Miller failed a performance enhancing drugs test for multiple different banned substances.
Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) had informed Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, the promoters, that Miller had tested positive for the banned substance GW1516. The test results were from a random VADA-conducted urine test Miller submitted to on March 20. Further tests taken on March 31 proved positive for EPO, HGH and GW1516 again.
Miller was denied a boxing license by the New York State Athletic Commission, with Hearn now on the look out for a new opponent to face ‘AJ’ on June 1st. That man turned out to be Andy Ruiz Jr, who stepped in four weeks prior to the fight date.
The fight ended up going down in history, with Ruiz pulling off one of the greatest upsets in heavyweight boxing history. The Mexican born American got knocked down in Round 3 by Joshua, with the Brit going in for the kill looking to end the fight there and then.
However, Ruiz landed a clean shot on the chin of ‘AJ’, sending him tumbling to the canvas for just the second time in his career. Joshua then got knocked down again in the third and twice in the seventh before ultimately losing for the first time as a pro.
Andy Ruiz Jr became the unified world heavyweight champion, becoming the first Mexican heavyweight champ in history in the process. That of course set up a tasty rematch between the pair in Saudi Arabia six months later, with ‘AJ’ getting his revenge and becoming a two-time heavyweight champion of the world.
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Anthony Joshua vs Robert Helenius – Fight Info
- 🥊 Boxing Match: Anthony Joshua vs Robert Helenius
- 📊 Records: Anthony Joshua (25-3, 22 KO’s) | Robert Helenius (32-4, 21 KO’s)
- 📅 Date: Saturday 12th August, 2023
- 🕛 Main Event Time: Approx. 11.00PM BST
- 🏆 Title: N/A
- 📺 TV Channel: UK: DAZN
- 🏟 Venue: O2 Arena | London, England
- 🎲 Fight Odds: Joshua 1/16 | Helenius 9/1
Be sure to claim the various sports betting apps and boxing free bets available on the SportsLens site ahead of this heavyweight super-fight.
Also check out the best boxing live streaming sites that will be airing the Joshua vs Helenius fight this weekend.
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