ROBERT HELENIUS vs TARAS BIDENKO

In by far the most interesting fight on the Valuev-Haye supporting show on Saturday, unbeaten Finnish heavyweight Robert Helenius moves up massively in class when he takes on the seasoned and capable Ukrainian Taras Bidenko in an eight-rounder.

Helenius, 25, is a big man at about 6ft 6ins and 250 pounds, and he was a useful amateur, winning a silver medal in the super heavyweight division in the 2006 European championships.

As is customary when prospects are being built up, Helenius has been matched carefully. He has been having things all his own way, with nine consecutive wins, the last four by stoppage. His best result was a sixth-round count-out win over Scott Gammer last May, but the former British champion has been in uninspired form lately.

There is nothing special about Helenius. His body has a somewhat soft look, and his method is to jab steadily and throw an occasional left hook or right hand — his right hands to the side of the body had Gammer discouraged and looking for the exit.

Bidenko, 29, is much more experienced as a professional and has fought a vastly higher standard of opponent. Although Bidenko was knocked out by Denis Boytsov in his last fight he had won 12 in a row going into that bout, and frankly I think that Boytsov would be far too powerful for Helenius.

The Helenius camp is no doubt gambling that the Boytsov defeat took something out of Bidenko and that he might be ready for the taking, and of course they could be right

This looks an evenly matched contest between German-promoted heavyweights. I lean towards the younger, fresher Helenius to jab his way to a win on points. This looks a risky fight for him, but my suspicion is that what we have here are two trains going in different directions.