DEONTAY WILDER visited Robert Helenius in his hotel room to APOLOGISE for his brutal knockout.
The Bronze Bomber, 36, made his return to boxing on Saturday against old sparring partner Helenius and claimed his 42nd KO.
Wilder landed a devastating right hand on the chin of the heavyweight in the first round.
Helenius was taken to hospital immediately with the Finnish boxer left lying motionless in the ring.
After some checks, 38-year-old Helenius was released from hospital and was greeted by old sparring partner Wilder at his hotel room.
Wider apologised for knocking him out while expressing his appreciation for Helenius being part of his boxing comeback.
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In a video filmed by Esnews, Wilder was heard saying: “Bro, are you okay? I love you man. I’m sorry.”
The pair shared a hug, before Helenius responded: “I love you too. Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better fight.”
Wilder added: “You did great. You did great. You did great.”
Helenius then revealed he was hanging up the gloves and told Wilder “this is your time”, with the Alabama-born hard hitter back in heavyweight title contention.
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He said: “This is your time. I have to say I’m out. I am 38 years old. I’ve been doing this for 25 years.
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fight you. I appreciate you so much.”
Wilder was relieved to see his opponent alive and well, but expressed his concern for Helenius’ long-term future.
He said: “I know you are feeling good right now but it’s week later, months and even years that I am concerned about because they don’t know.
“This is a tough business. We need people that love us around us.”
Wilder turning up to check on Helenius should come as no surprise.
The American broken down in tears while discussing the dangers of boxing in his post-fight presser.
The hard man had to be hugged by members of his team.
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Wilder’s next fight could be against Andy Ruiz Jr.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman was impressed with the American’s power and revealed he will be ordered to fight Ruiz at a WBC convention in Mexico next week.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
