Finnish fighters

[Sweet Dick Willie]

Living here so as a boxing fan these names mean a lot but do they ring a bell to you?

Gunnar Bärlund
Olli Mäki (amazing film was made of him and his fight with Davey Moore, called "The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki")
Amin Asikainen
Eva Wahlström (the first Finnish world champion I believe, lost to Katie Taylor)
Edis Tatli (there was something very Finnish in his manner trying to hug Teo Lopez out of pure politeness... Tatli might have been the very best boxer of our country, sadly his career ended on misfortunes with injuries and covid)
Robert Helenius (he actually looked pretty strong against Wilder before the (first round) knockout, but yeah, levels... Great victories against Kownacki but that's pretty much it)

[HomicideHenry]

One you forgot to mention was Tony Halme. He was also a professional wrestler, and was Randy Couture's UFC debut opponent. Halme was good enough to defeat the heavyweight version of Iran Barkley and in later life Halme became a member of the Finnish parliament.

[Sweet Dick Willie]

Forgetting to mention Halme was intentional...

[Sweet Dick Willie]

But yes, it's crazy we got a guy not very talented who beat the man who beat Tommy Hearns

[Sweet Dick Willie]

And yes, Tony Halme was Finlands heavyweight champion after first round knockout against Jukka Järvinen. He was dq'd in their first bout cause he got extremely frustrated but was lucky the second time and decided to come out guns blazing. All in all, the man was a tragedy and basically a nazi.

[Sweet Dick Willie]

And of course we have Oskari Metz! A guy with a winning record who lost in the first round against David Avanesyan who lost to Bud Crawford...

[Sweet Dick Willie]

Should I start a thread on Norwegian and Swedish fighters too?

[Sweet Dick Willie]

I was just thinking about this thread the other day and realized I didn't mention Sten Suvio, the olympic gold medalist from 1936.

Next month we got a fight here for the WBO intercontinental cruiserweight belt. Samuli Kärkkäinen is the guy. He's fighting Norwegian Kevin Melhus, never heard of him before.

[goose 5]

Did you ever meet Helenius ? He comes across as a really nice guy.

[Woldemar]

Edis Tatli
Robert Helenius
Amin Asikainen
Tarmo Uusivirta