Robert Helenius suddenly has some leverage.
The Finnish heavyweight, who scored a major upset when he stopped then-unbeaten Adam Kownacki in the fourth round Saturday in Brooklyn, hinted afterward at a rematch in Finland but he is not obligated to give Kownacki one.
There was no rematch clause in their contract, according to BoxingScene.com.
“You know, I have to think about it,” Helenius said. “Like I said, I have to take a couple days off and relax. I’ve been training like a crazy dog for many, many months now and I need a break. You know, just a couple weeks, be with the family and doing nothing.”
If they fight again, Helenius likes the idea of a home-field advantage. He joked about the fact Barclay’s Center was packed with fans of the Polish-born Kownacki on Saturday.
“I think the crowd treated me unfairly,” Helenius said, tongue in cheek. “That’s normal. If we take the fight back to Finland and make a rematch there, probably the crowd in Finland would treat him the same way.”
Helenius is the No. 1 contender for one of Anthony Joshua’s three titles but no one knows when the Englishman might get around to him.
Thus, Helenius will probably fight someone else in the meantime. Only one thing is certain: He’s in a better position today than he was when he woke up on the Saturday morning.