Anthony Joshua will fight Robert Helenius on Saturday after securing the Finn as a late replacement for Dillian Whyte.
“An adverse finding” from a doping test was returned by Whyte last week, with Matchroom confirming the rematch between the British rivals was cancelled.
Whyte, 35, revealed he is “devastated” and maintains he is “completely innocent”. But Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has moved quickly to find a late replacement, with Joshua eager to continue his rebuild under new trainer Derrick James.
“This wasn’t in the script,” said Joshua, 33, after it was announced that he will be fighting Helenius, 39. “I respect Helenius and may I say, I respect any male or female who steps into the ring.
“I am laser-focused on the win. I can make steps forward to bigger and better things, but the road map has a checkpoint, Saturday night. May the best man win.”
Helenius added: “I am excited. I am a true Viking that is willing to face any challenge at a moment’s notice. This is not an opportunity I was going to let slip away. I plan to make the most of it!”
Helenius appeared to retire in October after suffering a first-round knockout loss to Deontay Wilder, but he returned just last weekend with a TKO win over Mika Mielonen in Finland.
Meanwhile, Joshua last fought in April, beating Jermaine Franklin on points to bounce back from two straight losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
The unbeaten Ukrainian outpointed Joshua in 2021 to take the unified heavyweight titles, before retaining them against “AJ” with another decision win last August.
