Robert Helenius (18-0, 11 KOs) celebrated a successful ring return on Saturday night in Finland. Making his first fight in 11 months due to shoulder surgery, the Nordic Nightmare outpointed battle-tested Sherman “The Tank” Williams (35-12-2, 19 KOs) in front of 4,032 fans at the Helsinki Ice Hall. Helenius was ahead 99-91, 99-93 and 98-93 on the cards. He controlled the bout behind his long jab and kept landing body shots with his right, also firing in one-two combinations. However, the Tank had his moment in the sixth round when he landed his trademark overhand right. But Helenius proved his chin and regained control in the next rounds. “I´m back,” Helenius said. “This was a good comeback win for me. Williams was a dangerous opponent, he came here to fight. But I think I fought a good fight. I´m happy with my performance.”
Said Williams: “I promised to bring sunshine. We got three days of sunshine and Robert got the Conch Punch. I hurt him in the sixth but could not knock him out. In the end, he got the decision, I congratulate him. It was a good fight and he is a very good fighter.”
Patrick Nielsen (17-0, 8 KOs) defended his WBA Intercontinental Middleweight Title with a unanimous decision against Jamel Bahki (96-94, 97-95, 99-91). His younger borther Micki Nielsen continued his first-round KO streak, overpowering Dzianis Vardomski early as he improved to 4-0 (4 KOs). Super Featherweight Dennis Ceylan´s trip to Helsinki was a success as well. The 2012 Olympian (2-0, 1 KO) defeated Anton Bekish on points.
Rising Swedish light heavyweight Erik Skoglund (13-0, 7 KOs) celebrated his 13th victory in as many fights, stopping Gyorgi Marosi in the first round. Skoglund sent his opponent down twice with powerful body shots before the referee waved the bout off. Norway´s Andreas Evensen had no trouble to see off Philippe Frenois, clinching a clear points victory.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
