Deontay Wilder returned to boxing with a bang following his first round knockout victory over Robert Helenius in Brooklyn, making it 42 knockouts in his 43 wins, what a scary record.

It was a relatively easy night for The Bronze Bomber, who only landed three punches all night, but that third one was enough to leave his opponent down and out on the canvas, giving him the perfect return to action.

After just 177 seconds, Wilder was victorious, with his knockout so brutal, not even the bell saved Helenius, with just three seconds left on the clock in the opening round when that final blow landed.

Deontay Wilder breaks down in press conference after Robert Helenius win

The Bronze Bomber spoke about the dangers of boxing and Prichard Colon who was left in a vegetative state following a brain injury suffered in 2015.

Wilder said: “My heart goes out to him and I hope he’s doing ok [Robert Helenius], he’s gonna be able to go back to his family. You know, people always going on about records and all this oh he lost and he’s a bum and all that, get your bum ass in there. That’s a great knockout, he’s devastating and making history and stuff like that.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Deontay Wilder knocks out Robert Helenius in the first roundduring their WBC world heavyweight title eliminator bout at Barclays Center on October 15, 2022 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

“How much that man gonna suffer? We’ve seen what’s happened, look at Colon, Prichard Colon, this man ain’t have no kids, they don’t understand, they need to understand what we go through man, and I don’t even know him like that, but he’ll always be an advocate for us. This man won’t ever know what it’s like to be someone’s father and that's the most precious thing in the world to be somebody's father. But he won't ever be somebody's father because he got in the ring to support his family, but now, his family gotta take care of him for the rest of his life. We don’t know if Robert will be the same after this, I just did a job.”

Video: Deontay Wilder breaks down during his press conference following Robert Helenius win

What happened to Prichard Colon?

Prichard Colon was left with life-altering injuries following a 2015 bout with Terrel Williams, in a fight that could have prevented such a serious injury. To begin with, he suffered multiple blows to the back of his head. He alerted the referee to this, but was met with ‘you take care of it’ as a response.

He said inbetween rounds he felt dizzy but could continue, so the doctors allowed him to do so rather than stopping him. Colon was finally pulled from the fight when he was disqualified after his corner removed his gloves after the ninth round, thinking it was the end of the fight.

After being put in a coma for 221 days, Colon has remained in a vegetative state since 2017, although his mother, who is fighting a $50 million+ lawsuit, uploads his progress to YouTube, with the former boxer taking physical therapy whilst trying to learn to communicate via a computer.