‘He is back’, fans hails Anthony Joshua after first knockout win since 2020

British-Nigerian fighter, Anthony Joshua, defeated Robert Helenius, his opponent, via knockout in their heavyweight boxing bout at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday night. The former heavyweight champion won the fight after he handed his opponent from Finland a brutal punch in the seventh round, making it his first KO win since he defeated […]

British-Nigerian fighter, Anthony Joshua, defeated Robert Helenius, his opponent, via knockout in their heavyweight boxing bout at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday night.

The former heavyweight champion won the fight after he handed his opponent from Finland a brutal punch in the seventh round, making it his first KO win since he defeated Kubrat Puliev on December 12, 2020.

Joshua was originally set for his third clash with Whyte at the O2 Arena, having lost to his fellow Briton as an amateur before knocking him out in 2015.

However, Whyte returned an adverse finding in a drug test last week, leading him to be pulled from tonight’s main event. Helenius stepped in, just seven days after having fought and won in Finland.

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PHOTOS: Anthony Joshua knocks out Helenius at 7th round

In a chat with BBC, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said: “I knew this would happen, everyone’s talking about the new AJ and the old AJ and after two or three rounds the crowd starts to get a little bit impatient.

“He finds the measure of his right hand and he delivers one of the knockouts of the year on Robert Helenius… this is just the AJ you’re going to see now.

“He’s still got to be more aggressive than we saw tonight but there’s a lot on the line.”

Earlier this year, Joshua returned to the path of victory, beating Jermaine Franklin to stage a comeback after a string of losses.

AJ had made his return to the ring for the first time since his back-to-back loss to Ukrainian war hero Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua had vowed to go into retirement if he lost to Franklin in one of the most important matches of his career.

Meanwhile, AJ’s latest win has elicited reactions from Tweeps.

Below are some of such comments:

Tweeting via @mister_ade5, one Bayo Otedola said: “Anthony Joshua’s punch can send someone to heaven in an instant.”

@KhaleedSZN wrote: “Anthony Joshua’s punch is lethal. He is back! Won with a fkn K.O.”

@itzlaramiles said: “Anthony Joshua is back with a knockout bang…”

@LekanPorche wrote: “Wahala no Dey finish!!! Anthony Joshua delivers a knockout to Robert Helenius. Congratulations AJ.”

@Keepto8 said: “Anthony Joshua is back….bro that was one hell of a punch.”