Deontay Wilder's touted next opponent Robert Helenius is pushing through a legal case to be given the next shot against the winner of Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
The giant Finnish heavyweight is being lined up as the return fight for Wilder, who declared earlier this year that he was not retiring from boxing despite losing his trilogy with Tyson Fury. And Frank Warren leaked last week that the plan was for Wilder to fight Helenius in October.
But the Finn believes he has a legal argument that he is the No.1 contender to the Usyk vs Joshua 2 winner's WBA title, having won a final eliminator before the pandemic. He was ranked No.7 with the WBA, who are next in line to call a mandatory challenger for Usyk or Joshua, when he upset the odds and defeated Adam Kownacki in March 2020 just days before the world shut down.
And after spending over a year out of the ring due to a lack of major events, he allowed Kownacki to have a rematch on the undercard of Wilder's last world title effort against Fury. He further reaffirmed his place in the WBA rankings with another stoppage of the Polish-American fighter.
But much to his annoyance, he is believed to be behind WBA regular champion Daniel Dubois in the pecking order after the Brit defeated Trevor Bryan for the secondary belt in the division. Furthering his grievance is the understanding that Michael Hunter is the No.1 contender, and will put that on the line against Hughie Fury later this year.
"I am rightfully the WBA mandatory, so of course I am interested in the Usyk vs Joshua winner," Helenius told Sky Sports. "I definitely should be next. Every elimination bout after mine is bulls***. At this point, if we are not designated the mandatory after Usyk's next fight, we will only have one option. My lawyers are very confident that the WBA have bungled this whole thing, so I am confident in my position."
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Joshua was defeated by Usyk last September for the unified WBA Super, WBO, IBF belts, and also lost the less valued IBO title in the mix as well. Usyk was the mandatory challenger with the WBO, taking on Joshua nine months after he had beaten the IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev, meaning the WBA are next.
There is also the prospect that Fury, who holds the WBC belt and also holds honorary titles such as The Ring Magazine belt and the 'lineal heavyweight title', comes back and trumps all with an undisputed fight. But if that doesn't happen and the Brit stays retired, then Helenius may have a case to get the next shot.
Should the Finn be awarded an opportunity against Usyk or Joshua, he would be foolish to put that on the line against a hard-hitter like Wilder, who now may have to find a new opponent. He has been toying with retirement, but the former world champion now appears to want another run towards heavyweight gold, and the other belts which he hasn't yet won.
