Fans are eager to see former WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder back in action, with his fast-approaching comeback fight with former sparring partner Robert Helenius almost here. Fans want to see how Wilder, soon to be 37 years old, looks in his first fight back after going through that 11 round war with Tyson Fury, this a fight that saw both men take a good amount of punishment.
Wilder could certainly have picked an easier, or softer comeback foe than Helenius, who is coming off two stoppage wins over Adam Kownacki, the second fight also a year old. But as interesting as the Wilder comeback is, is the Wilder-Helenius fight really a pay-per-view worthy event? The fight of October 15 will go out on Fox Sports PPV, the fee a substantial $74.99. This is a lot of money, and the under card is nothing to shout home about – wthe the best supporting bout arguably being the fight between unbeaten heavyweight contender Frank Sanchez and Carlos Negron. Or you might be interested in the super-middleweight fight between Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell.
But interested enough to shell out $74.99? It’s expensive being a fight fan these days, and there are further PPV fights to come here in 2022; can’t-miss fights, at that. Some fights simply have to be missed, a fight fan’s pockets are only so deep. Is Wilder a big enough star to carry a big PPV event on his own, without a Tyson Fury or even a Luis Ortiz in the opposing corner? It will be interesting to see how many buys Wilder-Helenius manages.
Wilder, who says he is not looking past the 31-3(20) Helenius (this often a sure sign that a fighter IS looking past his next foe, as he eyes bigger fights), says he will fight until the age of 40, and then he’s done. Wilder wants fights with Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz, and Fury, again, a fourth time, before walking away. But first comes the tall Finn who has plenty of experience and can punch some.
Wilder, 42-2-1(41) should get the comeback win, and most people see him doing it by KO. But anything can happen with the heavyweights, especially when one of them is coming off a brutal, damaging (we hope not permanently) war; a long and draining war.
Will YOU be buying the Wilder-Helenius fight?