Breaking: Anthony Joshua's new opponent finalised after Dillian Whyte's failed drug tests

Anthony Joshua's scheduled bout against old rival Dillian Whyte was scrapped due to the latter's failed drugs test. Whyte retured adverse findings in a random test conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).

Promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Finnish heavyweight fighter Robert Helenius will be Whyte's replacement for the main event on August 12 at The O2 Arena in London.

Check out his tweet below:

Heavy Duty at the O2 this Saturday 💣 No PPV - all part of your @daznboxing subscription. Let’s GO 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jXERV7hDZn

Helenius is an experienced heavyweight with 36 fights under his belt and has been fighting professionally since 2008. He has 32 wins on his professional record, with 21 of them being knockouts.

'The Nordic Nightmare' is in better form than 'AJ' coming into this fight as he has lost only one fight in his last five outings. He lost to former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in October 2022, but the loss was preceded by a streak of three straight wins, including two over Polish boxer Adam Kownacki.

Robert Helenius also won the vacant WBA Gold heavyweight title in his first matchup against Kownacki.

Anthony Joshua lost two consecutive fights against Oleksandr Usyk across 2021 and in 2022. He won a comfortable unanimous decision victory in the bout against Jermaine Franklin earlier this year to bounce back from his losing skid.

He will be looking to build on that victory against Helenius on August 12.

Anthony Joshua speaks out after Robert Helenius is announced as Dillian Whyte replacement

Anthony Joshua has trained hard since the Dillian Whyte fight was announced earlier this year. The former heavyweight champion was very keen on facing an opponent on Saturday night, and according to promoter Eddie Hearn, their camp held talks with other heavyweights including ones fighting on the same card.

Anthony Joshua issued a statement after his matchup against Robert Helenius was announced and expressed his desire to claim victory before looking further ahead.

"This wasn't in the script. I respect Helenius and may I say, I respect any male or female who steps into the ring. I am laser focused on the win. I can make steps forward to bigger and better things but the road map has a check point, Saturday night. May the best man win."

Check out his comments in the post on Twitter by Matchroom below:

💬 @anthonyjoshua

#JoshuaHelenius pic.twitter.com/RmWOY1MfDP