Robert Helenius tested positive for a banned substance after being wiped out by former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
After being drafted seven days after his last win, Helenius admitted he was well out of shape. Nonetheless, he’s since been accused of drug taking.
This is despite Finland’s finest having zero opportunity to do so.
Matchroom confirmed another failed test from their fight event by stating: “Today, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) has informed Matchroom and the British Boxing Board of Control that Robert Helenius has returned an adverse analytical finding as part of a random anti-doping protocol.”
They added: “Matchroom defers to the relevant regulatory authorities on next steps. We vehemently continue to support voluntary anti-doping testing.
“We are committed to promoting a clean and fair sport for all athletes.”
After the loss, Helenius told FightHub TV: “I’m a little heartbroken about that fight. But what could I do with that short notice? I would have done better with a better training camp behind me.
“This was my opportunity to do this. But we only had an okay camp for the [last] opponent [compatriot Mika Mielonen] in Finland. It wasn’t like on any world stage or near Anthony Joshua, so we didn’t train for twelve rounds of hardcore boxing.
“We took that fight to see if I had the motivation to keep training and doing this job. The feeling I got when I was offered the Joshua fight was incredible and scary at the same time.
“It’s a crazy difference because it was an opponent from Finland, and he wasn’t even a Finnish champion. He just had six fights behind him.
Heavyweight test
“We took that fight just to feel how I feel about boxing. [The offer from AJ] was in the locker room after the fight. I still had my wraps on [when it came].
“I was pouring with sweat after the fight, and my manager told me, ‘Yeah, they offered a fight against Joshua. But I was like, ‘What, are you serious? No, it can’t be.
“I haven’t even had time to think about the last fight I just had five minutes ago. What is this crazy s***?’
“But yeah, now afterward, I feel a little bit sorry that I didn’t train boxing longer for Mielonen. [If I did] I would have been in a better shape and could have gone all rounds with him [Joshua].
“I felt I felt good in the fight in the first six rounds. But after that, the reaction time and everything goes down.
“I just had like four-round sparring in the training camp. Of course, we did it three times a week for two weeks, four to five rounds of sparring sessions. It wasn’t like I was conditionally prepared to concentrate twelve rounds at that level of fighting.
“I just feel sorry that I didn’t do the proper training camp that I thought I did. Of course, it was proper for that fight in Finland, but not at that level that I had the box one week after.”
Following Conor Benn, Dillian Whyte, and Alycia Baumgardner, Helenius is the fourth positive test from a Matchroom show in the past year.
