Wilder Vs Helenius Heavyweight Showdown

  • Deontay Wilder has opened as the -600 betting favorite against Robert Helenius (+400).
  • Wilder and Helenius are scheduled to headline a PBC on FOX PPV event at Barclays Center on October 15.
  • A super middleweight clash between former champions Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell will co-headline the event.

Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has opened as a big betting favorite to win his comeback fight.

According to the best boxing betting sites, the Bronze Bomber is the -600 odds-on favorite to beat Robert Helenius (+400).

Wilder and Helenius are confirmed to headline a PBC on FOX pay-per-view event on October 15th at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

BombZquad is Back!

Wilder has not fought since losing back-to-back fights against Tyson Fury. It can be recalled that Wilder and Fury fought three times in a memorable trilogy. The two fought to a controversial split draw in their first meeting in December 2018. Fury then knocked out Wilder inside seven rounds during their rematch on February 22, 2020. The Gypsy King then left no doubt who was the Heavyweight King when he stopped Wilder again in the 11th round of their third bout in October 2021.

The Bronze Bomber was the -170 betting favorite in their first bout and despite getting outboxed by Fury in that initial meeting, Wilder was still the -120 favorite in the rematch. However, after the Gypsy King knocked him out in their second fight, the Bronze Bomber entered their trilogy fight as the betting underdog for the first time in his professional boxing carer at +245 odds.

Take the Fury Trilogy away from his resume and you have an unbeaten fighter who owns the most devastating one-punch knockout power in boxing history. Outside of the Gypsy King, only Bermane Stiverne has gone the distance with Wilder who has 41 KOs in his 42 wins. The Bronze Bomber has put every opponent he’s faced on the canvass, including Fury whom he dropped multiple times in three bouts.

Helenius Confident of Producing Bigger Upset

While Wilder is coming off consecutive knockout losses to Fury, his opponent heads to this matchup after successive upset victories. Robert Helenius has won three in a row, all via knockout, since he was stopped by Gerald Washington in July 2019. The last two of those wins came against veteran Polish heavyweight Adam Kownacki in fights where he was the betting underdog.

Kownacki was an unbeaten 20-0 (with 15 KOs) contender with wins over Artur Szpilka, Charles Martin, and Chris Arreola when he fought Helenius the first time out in March 2020. So it was no surprise that he closed at the -4000 to -2500 range against Helenius the first time out. Kownacki was also the -250 to -210 favorite in their rematch but Helenius stopped him both times.

The 38-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden is no stranger to winning with the plus money sign written next to his name. He also pulled off the betting upset when he defeated Derek Chisora as the +165 bottom dog in 2017. Helenius also recorded a huge upset of German Erkan Teper in 2018 in a bout where he was the +300 bottom dog.

Plant-Dirrell to Serve as Co-Headliner

As if the Wilder vs Helenius bout isn’t big enough to rock the Barclays Center, the promoters also announced on Wednesday that the co-headliner for the event will be a middleweight showdown between former world champions Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell.

Plant is coming off his first defeat as a professional when he was stopped by Canelo Alvarez in November 2021 when the two fought for the undisputed super middleweight title. Sweet Hands won the IBF title by defeating Jose Uzcategui as the +130 betting underdog in 2019 and made three successful title defenses before losing to Canelo. Plant was rumored to be fighting David Benavidez next when the announcement was made.

Meanwhile, Dirrell is just 1-1-1 since becoming a two-time WBC super middleweight champion with a 2019 technical decision win over Avni Yildirim, including a 9th round TKO loss to David Benavidez as the +600 underdog where he yielded the title. The 37-year-old first won the belt in 2014 by defeating Saiko Bika but lost it to Badou Jack during his first title defense.

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Shane Acedera

Content covered on TSG: Blog and News

Shane turned a childhood love of the NBA into a successful writing career as he’s been covering basketball and other sports online since high school. Acedera branched out into sports betting over a decade ago and has been a reliable contributor to TheSportsGeek for the last five years. Shane loves to talk sports whether it’s with other enthusiasts or with his wife and three dogs.

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