NEW YORK – The hardest Robert Helenius has been hit in a boxing ring was by former heavyweight champions Samuel Peter and Lamon Brewster.

“The Nordic Nightmare” expects Deontay Wilder’s power to be comparable when they square off while wearing 10-ounce gloves Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Helenius has gotten a feel for Wilder’s power during the numerous rounds they’ve spent sparring against each other, but they wore gloves with much more padding and headgear for those sparring sessions.

“He’s powerful, yeah,” Helenius said during an open workout Wednesday at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. “But I don’t believe I’m without power.”

Wilder’s renowned power has made him perhaps boxing’s most pulverizing puncher of this era. Unbeaten WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, who has stopped Wilder on his feet and viciously knocked him out since their 12-round split draw in December 2018, is the only opponent Wilder has faced that the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native hasn’t knocked out.

Former WBC champ Bermane Stiverne took Wilder the distance during their first bout in January 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) dropped Stiverne three times in their rematch, however, and stopped him in the first round of their November 2017 bout at Barclays Center.

Helenius, meanwhile, has beaten Brooklyn’s Adam Kownacki (20-3, 15 KOs) by technical knockout in back-to-back bouts.

Eleven-and-a-half years have passed since Finland’s Helenius (30-3, 18 KOs) knocked out the hard-hitting Peter (then 34-4, 27 KOs) in the ninth round of an April 2011 bout in Halle, Germany. Helenius stopped Brewster (then 35-5, 30 KOs) in the eighth round in January 2010 in Neubrandenburg, Germany.

The 38-year-old Helenius still has difficulty accurately comparing Wilder’s power to the strength he felt from Peter and Brewster because he hasn’t yet been hit by Wilder in a real fight.

“It’s difficult to say because we have bigger gloves and headgear on, so I don’t know,” Helenius said. “He’s very fast, so he’s not maybe like really, really like what would you say? Like some people punch with really hard power and force, but I think he’s more of a fast power guy. Explosiveness is his, I think, the most best thing about him.”

The 6-foot-6 Helenius also hasn’t read too much into the results of their sparring sessions because those practice rounds in Tuscaloosa were designed to benefit the 6-foot-7 Wilder more than him.

“He was preparing for a tall guy like me [Fury], so it was to his advantage,” Helenius said. “I was training for a different kind of fighter, Adam Kownacki, so I wasn’t really paying attention a lot. But, of course, you know, some things get stuck with you and you learn a lot about each other always when you’re sparring. But a fight is always a fight, so it’s different.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.