List of All Articles with Tag 'person'

Robert Helenius puts it bluntly: “In Finland, if I would be caught, I would be lynched for my whole life.” The 39-year-old Finn is the biggest – perhaps only – beneficiary in this week’s saga, which has seen Dillian Whyte return an ‘adverse finding’ in a drug test, causing him to be pulled from his main event with Anthony Joshua. Helenius, on seven days’ notice, will now fight Joshua at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, but he is still damning of a situation that has handed him one of the biggest bouts of his career. “Of course it’s a problem, because I don’t think everybody’s on the same level,” he tells reporters on Wednesday. “I think some boxers have some privileges that others don’t. I think anti-doping should be the same in every country. For example, in your country, when Dillian gets caught, nobody cares. I would get a two-year minimum [ban], or I would never get a licence again.” Prior to last week, Whyte had twice dealt with doping-related dramas. The Briton, 35, served a two-year ban from 2012 to 2014 and was cleared of wrongdoing in a separate episode in 2019. He will again be investigated following last week’s failed test, but no matter the outcome, eyebrows have been raised. Helenius also references Tyson Fury and Alexander Povetkin as high-profile heavyweights to have tested positive for a banned substance before returning to the sport, with both men boxing on the biggest stage thereafter. “How is this possible?” Helenius asks, incredulously. “Either they should legalise everything for everybody, or have the same standard for everybody. “Of course it feels like I’m at a disadvantage, because I don’t have that luxury of doing that stuff – because they come to my home to do my blood tests and everything, all the time. It’s not fair, but who said that life should be fair? “My doping is: I have a really high level of Viking blood in me!” Joshua remains calmer on the topic – stunningly so, given how this week has affected him, and considering that he was burnt by a short-notice fight with Andy Ruiz in June 2019, after his original opponent Jarrell Miller tested positive for multiple banned substances. “It happens in boxing,” Joshua says. “It’s not the first time it’s happened. [It’s happening more], so I wasn’t so surprised to be honest.” Joshua, 33, also plays down suggestions that he might be ‘disgusted’ with Whyte, or even just ‘angry’. Remarkably, the Briton is generous enough to give some fighters the benefit of the doubt. “I hope it’s a mistake [with Whyte], but that’s why I have to invest in these tests, etc, and now I ask the team: ‘Can they get Helenius tested as well?’ It’s important to make sure we’re on top of these things. I actually don’t know what Dillian was caught with, I don’t know what was in his system. “I don’t wish Dillian any bad. His reputation is tarnished, it’s not good for him. It’s not ‘disgusting’ [to me], but... Boxing’s not an institution where you join a club and everything’s presented to you. These guys go to local gyms, they’re probably around people who are doing dodgy stuff. I don’t know what it is, but you have to be very, very responsible. Boxing’s so tough; your body hurts, you’re tired, you’re trying to look for small advantages, and you’ve got some guy at the gym who’s always got energy, lifts more than you, trains harder than you, and he’s like: ‘This is what I take, take this.’ If you don’t do your research, it can lead to a positive drug test. “I’ve been drug tested since 2011, then I started [pushing for] drug testing for my opponents around 2017. Who knows [if Whyte was doping when Joshua faced him in 2015]? I won, that’s the main thing! They must be doing it without knowing, because I think the money is better than a ban. Why would you go through a whole training camp to dope at the end and get banned? I just think they’re not careful.” Joshua’s reaction is especially commendable when one considers that Whyte and Miller both accused “AJ” of doping, despite a lack of evidence. “You've got to question the person who’s accusing people, sometimes!” Joshua says. “It’s funny, those two actually popped dirty themselves. It’s probably because of my physique maybe, or my rise in boxing, it just didn’t make sense to them because they’re probably working hard. Sometimes it’s just natural – God gifted, and a lot of hard work as well.” Joshua, who claims it’s “not morally right” to fight someone who is using a banned substance, also expresses frustration at a lack of consistency – not in punishment, per Helenius’s point, but in testing. “I get drug tested all year round,” he says. “Every quarter I have to submit my whereabouts, where I’m gonna be for one hour in a day, so they can turn up randomly if they want. It’s been like that since 2011, I’ve just submitted it every day of my life. Why am I under that pressure but other boxers aren’t? Once you sign up to a promoter, they should all have that under their organisation.” Derek Chisora, a friend of Joshua’s, suggested at Wednesday’s press conference that Whyte might not be to blame but rather his team. Joshua’s response? “I can understand where Chisora is coming from, because I get a plate of food presented to me, I don’t cook. Who’s giving [Whyte] this stuff? But I know what I’m taking, whoever’s giving it to me. It should be easy enough to know... “If I was to get caught on drugs, I’d be like: ‘Ah, f***; it’s probably this, this, this or this. These are the four supplements I’m taking.’ He doesn’t know what he’s taken or where it’s come from, he’s shocked. I know who gave me these bottles of water when I came in, who gives me my food, my supplements. It’s easy to track what’s going on in your life.” Joshua again differs in opinion from Helenius, to a degree, as he says: “I don’t think we need longer bans, I think we need to get it at the root. It’s backwards, boxing. You’ve got someone that’s come out of the Olympics, with potential to be a champion, who’s training in someone’s backyard swimming pool! If that’s me, who’s got potential, then you’ve got a kid coming out of nowhere and training in his local gym... he can easily be led down the wrong path. “There’s no support, no guidance. That’s why I always say: There’s the fight in the ring and the fight outside the ring, which is even harder. You need to get your s*** right outside; Dillian didn’t have his s*** right outside, and he can’t get in the ring.” Read More It’s time to stop taking Anthony Joshua for granted Joshua vs Helenius live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend ‘He’ll finish you with a sledgehammer’: What it’s really like to get punched by Anthony Joshua Anthony Joshua reveals why he accepted short-notice fight with Robert Helenius Wozniacki returns to tennis and new Man Utd threads – Tuesday’s sporting social Who is fighting on the Joshua vs Helenius undercard this weekend?

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When Mikel Arteta had that crucial meeting with Declan Rice that fully convinced the midfielder to join Arsenal, it went well beyond his place in this team. It was about his place in what the Spaniard hopes could one day become a dynasty. Arteta told Rice that Arsenal would continue to be a fine side without him. With him, however, they could be a side to define an era. Arteta is always studying different psychological approaches, and he would naturally have read Sir Alex Ferguson's with Roy Keane. The Manchester United great gave his captain a similar speech on signing him in 1993. “Roy, Manchester United are going to dominate the domestic game with or without you,” Ferguson told Keane over a game of snooker. “With you, we can win in Europe.” When meeting Virgil van Dijk, Jurgen Klopp was more tactical, asserting how he would pin the entire Liverpool team together. Arteta got at some of this, too. It gets to a key question with the signing of Rice, and why it could be one of the most important of the summer. In a world of collective systems, and where Pep Guardiola’s finely-tuned Manchester City are treble winners, can any single player still be as transformative? Can Rice bring this Arsenal together, like Van Dijk with Liverpool? Can he take them to a higher level, like Keane? All of that might sound a bit much, but that is the importance Arteta has placed on the signing. It was why it got so tense in the summer, as it looked like City might spirit away the specific player the Arsenal manager had identified as absolutely crucial to his team’s evolution. Many other clubs do feel that is how the champions seek to do business, not just looking to strengthen themselves, but also enjoying the double effect of preventing their closest rivals from doing the same. There is a feeling within the Premier League that was the initial rationale for going so strong on Jack Grealish when it looked like he could go to Manchester United. It also explained part of the pursuit of Harry Kane in 2021. It was just no one else fancied doing business with Daniel Levy, which lessened City's motivation. All of that speaks to Rice’s influence now given the extent of City's interest, but it’s just as well Arteta’s own words were so convincing. The Basque was of course correct in telling the 24-year-old that Arsenal were going to improve either way. They’re a team whose best players are only coming to their prime, getting better as footballers while the manager’s system also becomes even more ingrained. In that, they’re similar to Liverpool in 2017-18, which was just at the point when Klopp went big on Van Dijk. The team is largely as the manager wants it, having steadily constructed it with shrewd signings over two seasons. It then becomes about the final missing elements, which is why the managers know precisely who to target, and why they’re suddenly willing to pay so much. This is why it’s rare to have a single player potentially make this kind of difference. It is even rarer for managers to be able to get teams to this sort of position. The modern game doesn’t allow this so much, for all sorts of reasons. Arsenal have allowed for a proper project, though. Arteta believes Rice can bring that to completion for all sorts of reasons, but among the most immediate is his physicality. Arteta gradually felt this was something Arsenal lacked last season. It was actually made clear in one of the few matches they won towards the end. Arsenal managed to undercut Newcastle United at St James Park, but only as they were physically overpowered. It strengthened Arteta’s resolve for a player like Rice. He needed that muscularity. As important as Rice’s presence, however, is where he makes it felt. Rice is highly respected within the game for how he screens the backline and then strides forward, although there has been some debate over whether he is best used as a six or an eight. It is one of a few differences between Arteta and Guardiola that the Arsenal manager has a different interpretation of the role. The City manager initially had some reservations over how quick Rice is with the ball at his feet, although that is understood to have passed as he has matured as a player. Guardiola was convinced by the time the champions made a play this summer. Whether he would have used Rice in quite the same way is the big question, though, which was illustrated in how the champions never went as far on the England international as they did with Josko Gvardiol. It was also why the midfielder chose Arsenal well before then. Arteta made this integral role abundantly clear. Rice will mostly be a six with authority over the midfield, and the licence to surge. Arteta has also envisaged systems where he is an eight, though, and is stil seeking to buy a young midfielder to allow that. It does illustrate another element that Rice allows. Arteta now has much more tactical variety. That, after all, evolved into one of the other issues in an otherwise promising campaign last season. Arsenal quickly clicked into one system with one core of players, but that could only go so far. It also created a slight dilemma for Arteta. Did he persist with the same team at the cost of diminishing energy as the run-in went deeper, or did he take away from what got Arsenal there in the first place? Leandro Trossard was a signing made with this in mind, but more was required. Rice has been about that, too. Aside from the fact he can also play as a six or an eight, his range allows the team to do more. Kai Havertz then adds ingenuity, with Rice bringing influence. Arteta has been especially impressed by his drive, as well as his ability to fire up those around him. So, in theory, and certainly in the manager’s mind, Arsenal should improve in a few ways and maybe even be amplified as a team. The starting XI is better. They have more strengths. They have more variety. They may even have more resolve, with that complemented by the natural development of a young team, as well as the experience of last season. That is how the Gunners intend to bridge the gap. It is more than five points. It is the ability to push City all the way, no matter how far that goes. One other reason Arteta wanted Rice was because of how quickly he can help bridge that gap on the pitch. One of the most intimidating interactions Premier League players now have is the 24-year-old charging over to clatter into you. This is asking more. It will be a step up for the player, too. Rice has faced the greatest demands with England, but he hasn’t had them on a week-to-week basis, that suffocating need to win every game. That’s what Arsenal need now. Arteta and the players know it from last season. It’s why Arteta knew exactly what to say to Rice. Read More The Mikel Arteta transfer gambles that will shape Arsenal’s season Arsenal ‘obviously paid way too much’ for Declan Rice, says Roy Keane Can Mikel Arteta become Pep Guardiola’s greatest nemesis – or merely the latest? West Ham agree deals for England pair Harry Maguire and James Ward-Prowse The Mikel Arteta transfer gambles that will shape Arsenal’s season Arsenal ‘obviously paid way too much’ for Declan Rice, says Roy Keane

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