Deontay Wilder’s explosiveness makes him a unique threat in the heavyweight division

A year and a day ago, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder put on one of the great heavyweight title fights in recent memory. Wilder hasn’t fought since that memorable night in Las Vegas, when Fury won by 11th round stoppage in a classic battle that had more momentum shifts than a grandfather clock.

But in those 366 days, we learned that Wilder is, at absolute worst, the third-best heavyweight in the world and quite possibly the second-best. He’ll return to action on Saturday (9 p.m. ET, Fox Sports PBC Pay-Per-View) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, when he fights Robert Helenius in the main event.

Helenius is 31-3 with 20 knockouts and at nearly 6 feet 7 inches and with a 79-inch reach, he has the size to cause issues for Wilder.

Before Wilder’s three-fight series with Fury, in which the first was a draw and Fury won the last two by stoppage, the general school of thought was that a big guy who could box might cause a problem for Wilder.

Now, though, the consensus is that Wilder’s power is so overwhelming — he dropped Fury four times total in their three fights — is that it would take an all-time great boxer or someone with a freakish combination of size and boxing ability — to deal with him.

Helenius most definitely is not an all-time great boxer, nor does he have a freakish combination of size and boxing ability. Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk may be an all-time great boxer, and we know for sure that Fury has that freakish combination of size and boxing ability that makes him a problem for anyone.

But beyond Fury and perhaps Usyk — it’s no given Usyk could avoid Wilder’s lethal power shots for 12 rounds, despite how good of a boxer he is — there is no one in the game who could deal with the power and pressure that Wilder brings.

Wilder and Helenius once sparred together, though Wilder doesn’t see it as a factor.

“Sparring someone and fighting when it actually counts are two different things,” Wilder said. “Sparring is more of a practice. If Robert feels that he’s going to be able to match my showmanship, then I have to take his word for it. It will bring more excitement to the fight.

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“I’ve never faced Helenius when it counts, so who knows what he’s going to bring. Everyone knows that fighters train harder than ever before when they face me. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring that excitement on [Saturday].”

Wilder sits in a pretty position as far as getting another crack at the title. He talks openly about his second reign, and it’s likely that he’d be favored against anyone in the world other than Fury.

Usyk is a brilliant boxer, as he showed in winning the undisputed cruiserweight title and in a pair of victories over Anthony Joshua. Joshua is a massive human and a powerful puncher, but he isn’t nearly the aggressor or the finisher Wilder is.

Joshua rocked Usyk in the second fight, but he didn’t have that next gear to follow up on it and finish the job. Wilder most certainly does.

He’s spent a lot of time preparing at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, and feels he’s added to his game since his second loss to Fury last year. That kind of thing is scary given what he’s been able to do so far.

“I can only speak on what I’ve been doing in training and in sparring,” Wilder said. “I would say I look amazing. I haven’t lost any steps. If anything I’ve improved, gone back to the fundamentals and added new aspects to my skill set. It’s really about applying some things that I used to not work on as much.”

Helenius is saying all of the right things and understands what he’s getting into against Wilder. But as NBA legend Allen Iverson said so eloquently so many years ago, “We’re talking about practice.”

There is no guarantee that just because Helenius survived sparring with Wilder that he can do the same thing in a fight.

“It’s tough to say if I felt Deontay’s power in sparring because of the headgear and bigger gloves,” Helenius conceded. “I think it’s more about his speed. Some people punch with a lot of force, but I think his best attribute is the explosiveness.”

That explosiveness has helped him to a 42-2-1 record with 41 knockouts, and a 41-0 record with 40 knockouts against everyone other than Fury.

And if Wilder is to get yet another reign as heavyweight champion, the explosiveness will be the major reason why.