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Finnish fighters

Posted: 21 Jun 2023, 19:33
by 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)

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 21 Jun 2023, 23:33
by 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.

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 22 Jun 2023, 01:10
by Sweet Dick Willie
Forgetting to mention Halme was intentional...

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 22 Jun 2023, 01:57
by Sweet Dick Willie
But yes, it's crazy we got a guy not very talented who beat the man who beat Tommy Hearns :box:

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 22 Jun 2023, 03:43
by 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.

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 22 Jun 2023, 03:55
by 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...

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 22 Jun 2023, 04:50
by Sweet Dick Willie
Should I start a thread on Norwegian and Swedish fighters too? :OhYes:

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 21 Oct 2023, 03:17
by 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.

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 21 Oct 2023, 11:46
by goose 5
Did you ever meet Helenius ? He comes across as a really nice guy.

Re: Finnish fighters

Posted: 21 Oct 2023, 11:55
by Woldemar
Edis Tatli
Robert Helenius
Amin Asikainen
Tarmo Uusivirta