It was beautiful boxing. He landed with more shots.
Then the worst thing happened.
Finnish heavyweight boxer Robert Helenius was knocked out in the eighth round. (The fight was scheduled for 10 rounds.)
At 04:00 on Sunday morning Finnish time, Helenius stepped in the ring with his Mexican-American counterpart, Gerald Washington, at the Minneapolis Armory, a venue about the size of Helsinki Ice Hall (8,400-person capacity), in Minnesota, USA.
Both fighters started chasing the victory right from the beginning.
Helenius delivered a hard right cross to the body, Washington countered with a strong left hand.
A strong left by Helenius made Washington take a few steps back.
In the second round, Helenius continued by utilizing the left hook, got in a hard left, then a right cross and a bit later another nice right cross to the body.
Then Washington started picking up the tempo. He continued by hitting with a double jab. Then got in a right cross.
But soon it was Helenius’ turn to deliver a couple of his trademark left and right hooks to Washington’s body.
At the break, Washington was heard receiving instructions from his corner for the third round: “When he comes with that bullshit, you gotta go!”
In the third, Washington opened with a hard blow to the body but Helenius countered with a jab-left hook combination.
Washington started utilizing the left jab as a power punch. Helenius got in a nice left-right combo.
The three first rounds looked somewhat even, even if Helenius landed more punches.
In the fourth, Washington connected with a hard right hook to the face.
Best punches for Helenius in this round were his trademark left and right hooks to the body.
In the fifth round, Washington seemed to dominate by leading with the left but in the sixth round, the wheels were about to turn.
Now Helenius took over by leading with the left jab. He got in several combos. Definitely Helenius’ round.
At the break before the seventh, the cutman was fixing Washington’s right eyebrow.
The round in general was slower with more clinching and catching breaths.
“Do your own thing! When you do it, do it properly!” Helenius’ trainer Johan Lindström was heard giving a spur at the break before the eighth.
Washington began the round surprisingly strong. He attacked with a left-right combo, delivering a left jab and a left hook to the body. Helenius tried to block and push him off.
Washington hit in a hard right.
Then he attacked with a vicious left and right combo that connected to Helenius’ chin.
Helenius fell onto the canvas.
He couldn’t get up before the ten count.
It was over.
After a while, Helenius was able to stand up.
The fighters hugged.
