Deontay Wilder's return to come against Robert Helenius in Fox PPV main event
Caleb Plant, Anthony Dirrell meet in super middleweight title eliminator in co-feature
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After a one-year layoff, former heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder’s ring return is set.
In the expected match, Wilder will face Robert Helenius in a WBC title elimination bout that will headline a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card on Oct. 15 (Fox PPV) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, home to big wins for both fighters, PBC announced on Wednesday.
Also announced was the co-feature, a WBC super middleweight title eliminator between former 168-pound titleholders Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell. Two more bouts on the pay-per-view will be announced later.
Wilder, one of the most feared punchers in boxing history, has not fought since suffering the second of back-to-back knockout losses to Tyson Fury last October in Las Vegas. Fury, who claimed the WBC belt from Wilder in their February 2020 fight, retained the belt in the trilogy fight by 11th-round knockout in the consensus 2021 fight of the year and one of the greatest heavyweight title fights in history.
Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs), 36, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, got knocked down three times but he also dropped Fury twice in the fourth round of the action-packed battle.
Wilder, who defended the WBC belt 10 times during his 2015 to 2020 title reign, which included a draw with Fury in their first fight, toyed with retirement after the third Fury fight but decided against it and recently returned to training to begin preparing for his return.
“It’s been a long journey for me and as of today it continues,” Wilder said. “I thought so many times about whether I should stay out of the business or come back. Once I got my statue (which was recently erected) in my hometown and saw so many people arrive and celebrate with me and my family, to see all the emotions, grown men crying in front of their children and saying he is a real true king, made me feel like my job is not done. So, here I am once again, looking forward to returning to the ring.
“I am looking forward to coming to Barclays Center, a place where I have had my most devastating knockouts and a place I consider my second home. So, where all my Bombzquad people at? It’s time to put on your war gear. And let’s go to work, baby. Bombzquad is back!”
The fight will be Wilder’s fifth at Barclays Center. He defended the title four times there, all by knockout, including against Artur Szpilka, Bermane Stiverne in their rematch, Luis Ortiz in their memorable first fight and Dominic Breazeale.
Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs), 38, of Finland, has rejuvenated his career in a three-fight winning streak since an upset eighth-round knockout loss to Wilder knockout victim Gerald Washington in 2019. Helenius’ last two fights were upset knockouts of contender Adam Kownacki, the first of which came by fourth-round knockout at Barclays Center on March 7, 2020, the last major fight before the pandemic shut down the sport for months. In their rematch, Helenius stopped Kownacki in the sixth round this past October on the Fury-Wilder III undercard.
“It’s great to be back at Barclays Center in an even bigger fight than my last one,” Helenius said. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and I’m going to be ready. I’m going to produce an even bigger upset than I did with Kownacki. I’m going for the belt, so this is a fight to prepare me to achieve that goal. I can only become the best heavyweight in the world by beating the best and that’s what I intend to do on Oct. 5.”
Plant vs. Dirrell
Plant (21-1, 12 KOs), 30, of Las Vegas, will be fighting for the first time in 11 months since losing the IBF title to Canelo Alvarez in their four-belt unification fight for the undisputed super middleweight championship this past November.
“I’m looking forward to fighting at Barclays Center for the first time,” Plant said. “I know the fight fans in Brooklyn are going to come out for this card. I’m feeling good and I’ve been in the gym working hard since my last fight. I’m going to put on an excellent performance and retire this guy.”
Dirrell (34-2-2, 25 KOs), 37, of Flint, Michigan, is a two-time super middleweight titlist but 1-1-1 in his last three fights.
He lost his world title to David Benavidez by cut-induced ninth-round knockout in September 2019, then fought to a surprising draw with big underdog Kyrone Davis in February 2021 before rebounding with a crushing fourth-round knockout of Marcos Hernandez in November on the Alvarez-Plant undercard.
“I’m real excited to be back in the ring on Oct. 15,” Dirrell said. “I’m especially excited to be fighting at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This is a special place for me. I fought Sakio Bika for a world title at this same venue (in a 2013 draw), so I’m happy to be back. This fight means even more to me because it’s one day after my birthday, which is Oct. 14. So I’m looking forward to giving the fans a great show, getting the big victory on Fox Sports PBC pay-per-view and then celebrating it all after.”
Wilder photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC
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will be good to see wilder back in action. not hating on the two fights scheduled, as they're obviously very relevant fights, but i could argue that 3 of the 4 headliners are close to washed up, so hopefully we get some good prospects in meaningful fights in the other ppv bouts, and not a pbc-special victor ortiz or robert guerrero or (scroll through long list of yesterday's quasi-stars on the pbc roster). frank martin, please? even frank sanchez, who's often boring, but potentially figures into wilder's future if the wbc title is vacated by the "retired" mr fury.