by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J, Geoffrey Ciani, and Chauncy Welliver)(Photo by Adam Monaghan) – This week’s 116th edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with undefeated heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (14-0, 9 KOs) who is scheduled to face former champion Sam Peter (34-4, 27 KOs) on April 2. Standing over 6’6”, Helenius knows how to use his size to keep opponents at a range with a good jab which creates opportunities for his big right hand. He already holds a victory over former champion Lamon Brewster when he stopped him by 8th round TKO and is looking to add Peter to his list. Here is the complete transcript of what Helenius had to say about his career, the upcoming fight with Peter, and other matters pertaining to the current boxing landscape:
JENNA J: Anyway guys moving on to a more promising future we have undefeated heavyweight contender Rober Helenius on the line with us right now. How are you doing Robert?
ROBERT HELENIUS: I’m doing good, thank you. I just finished sparring and it went well.
JENNA: Excellent! Now some news came out this week that you will actually be facing Samuel ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Peter on April 2. How do you feel about this matchup?
HELENIUS”I feel fine. Actually we have been training really, really good all year. I feel prepared. Now it’s just the sparring part, the two week sparring more. Now there is one week of sparring behind me. I’m coming around. I feel solid in my whole body. I feel that I’ve been training really, really good. I know I’m prepared.
JENNA: Do you think Sam Peter will be the toughest opponent you will have ever faced?
HELENIUS: Yeah of course. We are going for the gold of course. We have to get better and better opponents all the time and climb the rankings. I’m going to do my best.
JENNA: Alright now what do you think of Samuel Peter as a fighter and what he’s accomplished in the heavyweight division?
HELENIUS: I haven’t followed him that much because I have so much going on with my own career. He beat some really good guys and fought really good against Klitschko and stuff like that so he’s going to be a tough opponent, but I feel I’m ready.
JENNA: When you face off against him he will be your second former heavyweight champion that you faced off against, the first being Lamon Brewster. Can you tell us a little bit about that fight you had with Lamon last year?
HELENIUS: Yeah, yeah, it went really fine. We had prepared for it the same way but now I’m one year more trained and I haven’t had really a vacation after that fight so I’m only getting better all of the time and I’m looking forward to it.
JENNA: Well we’re also joined by a heavyweight contender like yourself, Chauncy Welliver.
CHAUNCY WELLIVER: Hello Robert.
HELENIUS: Hello.
WELLIVER: Hey I don’t know if you remember me. I used to spar you over there. I don’t know if you know the name, but we always used to spar over there.
HELENIUS: Okay, okay. How long ago was that? Do you remember how long ago?
WELLIVER: I’m the one that you drove to the hotel all the time. It was about a year ago the last time I was there.
HELENIUS: How are you?
WELLIVER: Very good, very good. I’m the short white heavyweight. (laughs)
HELENIUS: Yeah! (laughs) Now I remember! You fought on a Sauerland event also, yeah?
WELLIVER: Yeah.
HELENIUS: I remember, I remember.
WELLIVER: Well Robert, we talked quite a bit when we were sparring and stuff so I am going to ask you a couple of questions that I have asked you before, but some that I know the people in America will want to know about you.
HELENIUS: Okay.
WELLIVER: One thing I know me and you talked about this before, in the beginning of your career you started off 5-0 and that was around the time me and you started working together. You were 5-0 with 1 knockout. Do you feel you fight to your level of opposition? Because since then you were fighting guys that shouldn’t have went the distance and you were going the distance with them, but then you stepped it up big time against much better opposition and you started knocking them out. Do you feel maybe you were more up for fights with like say a Brewster or guys like that?
HELENIUS: I would say at the beginning I wasn’t physically better like now because I was really lazy as an amateur training. I wasn’t training that well and when I came to Sauerland it started a whole new level of training. So the first fights I was only getting used to the hard training and stuff like that so it was good to have some distance fights with them because you get the experience and stuff like that and how it feels to be in a professional ring. Now I’m more physical and more stable and more physical. I’ve improved really a lot since my first few fights. I think it’s much in my head. I’m more stable and I feel better and I could do stuff in the ring that I couldn’t do before because I was afraid my conditioning would end soon. Now I feel more secure.
WELLIVER: Do you feel with a dominant win over Samuel Peter and being in Germany, is a Klitschko fight something you are looking forward to and how far do you think you are away from those fights?
HELENIUS: Yeah I feel I’m ready, but I have to take the trainer’s notes and do a lot better before I go into those fights. I feel I’m ready but my trainer says I’m not really ready. When he gives the green light I will go.
WELLIVER: Do you feel much more confident working with Ulli Wegner, the great Ulli Wegner, as a trainer going into a fight with a Samuel Peter and do you feel with your size, kind of having the style of a Klitschko, are you guys studying a lot of his fights with Samuel Peter to kind of build strategy?
HELENIUS: They’re going with the same strategy. I feel really confident going with Ulli Wegner. He’s a top trainer and he has had a lot of experience. I listen to him a lot and he’s given me another whole perspective on boxing. He’s a really good trainer. I feel so confident in the ring now. I feel like nobody can hurt me there.
JENNA: Alright, we’re also joined by my Co-Host Geoff.
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hi Robert! It’s a pleasure to have you on the show.
HELENIUS: Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here.
CIANI: Thank you. Regarding Samuel Peter, I know you said you haven’t followed his career too closely but in his most recent fight against Wladimir Klitschko, even though he was stopped, he actually looked better to me than he had in years. He was doing a lot of bobbing and weaving and it was almost like he was doing his best impression of Joe Frazier early on. Before that he was more of a plodder. Which Peter are you preparing for and expecting?
HELENIUS: I’m preparing for the best Peter that I’ve ever seen. Of course I expect him to be in top fitness and I expect a really, really good fight.
CIANI: Now you mentioned before Robert that during your amateur career you were sometimes lazy in your training and it wasn’t until you paired off with Team Sauerland that you changed. What changed in your attitude that made you become more focused and more dedicated in your training?
HELENIUS: Because before I didn’t believe in myself really. I was only training for fun and doing this for fun. Then I started to think a little bit and I thought maybe I should really give it a shot because now I believe I could be the heavyweight champion and that’s a big thing. I really want to be that now. Before I didn’t even know if I could be so I didn’t give 100% because I felt like I was wasting my time and I got no money from the fights. I got nothing in the amateurs. It was just for fun with everything so I wasn’t taking it seriously. Now when I got to Sauerland I knew how big the stable was with Sauerland and how they do their match-making and how they make champions. So I’m really dedicated now to this boxing because before, like I said, I was lazy because I didn’t believe in myself. Now Wegner and everybody believes in me there and they’ve given me a lot of confidence and that’s why I want to be the best.
CIANI: One of the questions I like to ask the guests we have on the program is the story behind their boxing nicknames and I was wondering if you could tell our fans out there the story behind how you first started using ‘The Nordic Nightmare’ nickname?
HELENIUS: It’s not a good story, actually. It was our PR guy who made it up. It sounded really good because I was the best in Scandinavia so ‘The Nordic Nightmare’ sounded really, really good. I’m a calm guy. I think everybody says I’m a calm guy when I’m not in the ring and I’m a good guy, but when I’m in the ring I’m a whole different person. I let my lion loose so to speak. In the ring I’m a whole different person so maybe that’s why they gave me ‘The Nordic Nightmare’.
CIANI: Now Robert, do you watch a lot of boxing? Are you a big fan of the sport as a spectator and if so, who are some of your favorite fighters out there who you have liked to watch?
HELENIUS: Actually I’m not watching that much TV and stuff like that. I’m more about spending time with my family and doing other stuff. Of course when I was younger I started to like Muhammad Ali. Lennox Lewis was one of my favorite because he’s tall and he can fight also inside and at long distance. If I would have a favorite, that’s my favorite, Lennox Lewis. I don’t watch a lot of boxing now days. I’m just watching myself and trying to improve on what I did wrong and what I did good. I’m trying to improve everything.
JENNA: Now Robert, people say that the heavyweight division is the weakest it’s been in years and I’m curious, as a heavyweight, how do you perceive the heavyweight division and the fighters that are out there now?
HELENIUS: Well I don’t know. Maybe it seems that way because there are a lot of heavyweights are trying to get out there and everybody is good and technical, so maybe the fights sometimes seem boring. I don’t feel that. I think it’s good. With Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko ruling, they are so good that everybody else seems so bad I think. I don’t know what to say to that, but I don’t feel like with the heavyweights, there is nothing wrong with it. I don’t think so.
JENNA: You mentioned the Klitschkos. Currently both of them reign as titlists. I’m wondering what you think of them as fighters and what they’ve done in the heavyweight division?
HELENIUS: They are tall. They are fighting really with their minds. They are not taking any punishment. They are keeping the guys at a distance and fighting them from there and knocking them out. So I don’t see why people are saying it’s so bad. It’s not so bad. I don’t think so. When he fought Lennox Lewis it was a close fight and Lennox Lewis was not a bad fighter. I don’t believe it.
JENNA: Alright now Wladimir Klitschko has a fight with David Haye in the works for June or July. I’m curious, how do you see that fight going?
HELENIUS: I expect a close good fight. I can’t say who will be the winner because I’m excited to see the fight, of course. I’m not taking any sides. I just expect a really, really good close fight.
JENNA: Now Robert the biggest star in boxing right now is Manny Pacquiao. What do you think of him as a fighter and what he means to the sport now?
HELENIUS: Yeah, he’s one of a kind like any legend, like Muhammad Ali or Joe Frazier or anybody. Manny Pacquiao is an icon in boxing. He’s coming forward. He can do everything in boxing. He’s really, really good. I like his style, but I couldn’t fight his style because I’m tall and everybody else is not as tall as me in the heavyweight division, so there is a big difference there.
JENNA: Alright, let’s talk a little bit about your fight with Samuel Peter. What do you think is your biggest asset when you face off against him on April 2?
HELENIUS: I’m taller, I can keep him at a distance, I’m faster, and I can easily go twelve rounds with him, no problem.
JENNA: Now is there anything you see in Samuel Peter’s game that you think can give you trouble?
HELENIUS: Not really. I just have to do my own work like I always do to keep him at a distance and just explode with my right from long distance. It’s going to work every time.
JENNA: Robert, let’s get your official prediction. How do you expect the fight with Samuel Peter to play out?
HELENIUS: I’m going to knock Sam Peter out! That’s the way. I don’t know which round but it’s going to be a good fight.
JENNA: Well I have one final question. Is there anything you want to say to your fans that you have out there?
HELENIUS: Thanks for supporting me. I really love my fans. I hope you keep supporting me, even if sometimes things go bad. I hope everybody is going to be there for me and I thank you a lot.
JENNA: Well Robert, it’s been a pleasure talking to you today. We wish you all the best of luck on April 2.
HELENIUS: Thank you.
CIANI: Thanks Robert, good luck!
HELENIUS: Thank you.
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For those interested in listening to the Robert Helenius interview in its entirety, it begins approximately one hour and thirty minutes into the program.
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