Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

Did anyone catch Helenius-Rill this weekend?

It was Robb's third fight since returning from his injuries, and I think he looked extremely good. Granted, Rill isn't an elite-level opponent, but he was at least undefeated, and he looked to be pretty good, having decent movement and defense. Teper would have been a much better test, but Rill was in shape and definitely trying to bring it.

- but Helenius controlled him well, using excellent defensive footwork, and an EXTREMELY deadly jab. Really good accuracy on his punches, as well. I was also surprised to see Robb constantly moving forward, pushing the action. The only slight negative was that Robb occasionally leaned in a little too far with his head, probably because Rill was significantly shorter, and was fighting mostly off his back foot. Still, that's a bad habit to get into, unless you have the reflexes of RJJ or Floyd. Well, it only happened a few times, so ....

I think we have one more serious player, back in the HW division, and he's still "only" 31 years old. Hopefully the Teper fight is next, or maybe someone even better.

Big things ahead?

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

Here is the fight on our forum:

Boxing videos

**no external YT links allowed please Mr Schmeling............

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

And HDRip Download here

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

And HDRip Download here

You know, I quite prefer watching these foreign-broadcast (foreign language) fights. Since you can't understand the commentators often inane banter, you're not distracted from the actual action. Plus, unlike turning off the sound, you can still hear the sound of the punches, which is very important.

Thanks as always, Selij. :tea:

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

Thanks as always, Selij. :tea:

You're very welcome.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

--- Teper reportedly failed several drug tests not to mention being raided where he was caught redhanded with the stuff. Poor Price just can seem to win for picking the wrong guys to fight.

Helenius still has a ways to go before he's back as he would have destroyed Rill easily before hurting his shoulder.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

Nice shot to put Rill down early on, but what is it with fighters hitting their opponents on purpose when they are on the canvas. That was a nasty shot which landed on the back of Rill's head. At least he got a warning for it, but didn't look too serious enough from Howard Foster.

Like Cable said Rill's size didn't help, he kept walking backwards while Helenius was on the front foot trying to take the fight to Rill. I wouldn't say him leaning forward with his head was the only negative, some of his shots were slow and very wide, you could fit a bus through some of his attacking shots/defensive stance. The amount of shots he took was worrying and his output seemed to drop the more the fight went on. I thought he was fairly one dimensional and his head movement was very poor, that's why Rill landed easily at times.

I'm not so sure we have a serious player back in the HW Cable. He got caught with a good few jabs and right hands flush on his head, and Rill isn't the fastest. I agree he did good things in the fight but his defence will let him down when/if he steps it up. I can't see him improving his defence too much at 31-years-old - can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Let's not forget he should of lost to Chisora and he's fairly average. Sorry, just not seeing it Cable.

I really do hope The Daily Mail are right and Joshua fights Helenius next, can only see one winner and that's Joshua. His speed, movement and power would be too much for Helenius.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

Let's not forget he should of lost to Chisora and he's fairly average. Sorry, just not seeing it Cable.

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Yes, Chisora technically won that fight, but Helenius had a torn ligament in his shoulder before the fight even started, and broke several knuckles in his hand DURING the fight. The fact that he kept throwing (somewhat) and made it to the final bell says a lot about Helenius' fighting spirit.

OK, he does have a few flaws, but he's also showing good ring generalship, and excellent footwork. Given the sad state of the current HW division, I think he's going to be a major player for a while. (unless he fights Ortiz or Wilder too soon.)

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

OK, he does have a few flaws, but he's also showing good ring generalship, and excellent footwork.

His footwork I thought was good early on but the more the fight went on I thought his footwork got worse. He looked tired and heavy legged and maybe that's why Rill's was landing several clean shots as he couldn't get out the way of the shots that landed. Or maybe he thought he could just walk through Rill's shots, so he could get his own off.

I wasn't too impressed with Helenius, but never have been.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

Well, time will tell.

I just hope he gets the opportunities. Clearly, he's not looking for easy fights, since he was signed to face Teper.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

--- While the shot by Helenius after Rill was knocked down looked bad, it should be noted that Rill was in the process of jumping up towards Helenius' vicinity, just a gut fighter's reaction in the heat of the moment.

It certainly didn't impair Rill as it wasn't a clean shot, just spur of the moment. The ref should've warned him, and maybe did, but it didn't affect the outcome of the fight unlike truly bad referees and judges do with impunity. Clean up the officiating and don't sweat the small stuff by the fighters, they're only human.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

His footwork I thought was good early on but the more the fight went on I thought his footwork got worse. He looked tired and heavy legged and maybe that's why Rill's was landing several clean shots as he couldn't get out the way of the shots that landed. Or maybe he thought he could just walk through Rill's shots, so he could get his own off.

 

I wasn't too impressed with Helenius, but never have been.

That could be, I'll have to re- watch the fight. Again, I thought at the time that this was because Helenius was getting frustrated at the much smaller man constantly moving backwards. Helenius obviously wanted a fan-friendly KO, to get people talking about him again, and Rill was making that near-impossible. So, Helenius started leaning in more and/or staying in the pocket, and using his legs less. But yeah, even if I'm right that would have been foolish, and dangerous against a better fighter. So, maybe he WAS getting tired. He looked to be in pretty good shape, though.

Update: I'm re-watching the final few rounds right now. What I see is that while Robb was moving less, he still WAS using that nice defensive footwork, just a little less often:

He still had a nice spring in his step, still able to use that lovely backwards movement (watch the very end of round 11 & the first minute of round 12) he wasn't breathing heavy, and his balance was fine. He had also started using his head slips more, so I think that he simply had figured out by then how to time Rill, to the point that he didn't need to move his torso as much. (Ala Canelo, though not quite as good as Canelo.) His jab was also still very crisp, even in the final round.

I'm even more impressed after a second viewing.

Re: Robb Helenius vs Franz Rill.

That was a very good fight. Curious what Joshua could do against Helenius in a bout.