Juho Haapoja (born 22 October 1980) is a Finnish former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 2006 to 2017, and held the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

cruiserweight title twice between 2011 and 2017.

Professional career

Haapoja made his professional debut on 8 April 2006, losing a four-round

points decision A points decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges who agree on which ...

to Remigijus Ziausys, who also debuted. A ten-round

split draw A split draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts, and other sports involving striking. In a split draw, one of the three judges scores the contest in favor of one fighter, another judge scores i ...

against Jari Markkanen on 16 March 2007 denied Haapoja a chance to win the Finnish

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

title. He lost for a second time to Denis Bakhtov on 22 May 2008, which was for a WBC and PABA regional heavyweight title. On 28 November 2008, Haapoja stopped Sami Elovaara in nine rounds to become the Finnish heavyweight champion, winning the vacant title in his second attempt. A defence of this title against Jarno Rosberg, which went the ten-round distance, was later relegated to a

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

after Rosberg was caught for

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

. On 23 September 2011, Haapoja won his first major regional title by defeating Faisal Ibnel Arrami via

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD) to become the

cruiserweight champion. He made two successful defences against Ian Tims on 21 January 2012 (twelve-round unanimous decision) and Francesco Versaci on 15 September 2012 (fourth-round stoppage), but lost the title to

Mateusz Masternak Mateusz Masternak (born 2 May 1987 in Iwaniska, Poland) is a Polish professional boxer fighting in the Cruiserweight (boxing), Cruiserweight division. He is a former European Boxing Union, EBU (European) Cruiserweight champion. Amateur career Ma ...

on 15 December 2012 (unanimous decision). Consecutive losses came against

Silvio Branco Silvio Branco (born 26 August 1966) is an Italian former professional boxer. Career Branco outpointed Glen Johnson and upset Robin Reid in England. He got a super middleweight IBF title fight but lost a lopsided decision against Sven Ottke. ...

on 6 July 2013 (tenth-round

technical decision A technical decision is a term used in boxing when a fight has to be stopped because of a headbutt. In mixed martial arts, a technical decision occurs when a fighter is rendered unable to continued by a foul and the majority of the final round ha ...

) and Rakhim Chakhkiyev on 15 March 2014 (ninth-round TKO), both times for the vacant

WBC Silver The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

cruiserweight title. Haapoja suffered his sixth professional loss on 31 January 2015, when he was stopped in two rounds by Serhiy Demchenko. In a rematch against Demchenko on 23 May, the fight ended in a ten-round split draw. Haapoja won his second European Union cruiserweight title on 25 March 2017, scoring a UD over Damian Bruzzese. His first defence, on 21 October, was unsuccessful: after losing an SD to Alexandru Jur, Haapoja promptly announced his retirement from boxing.Persson, Per Ake (22 October 2017)
"Juho Haapoja Loses EU Title, Announces His Retirement"
BoxingScene. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Official website
(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haapoja, Juho Finnish male boxers Heavyweight boxers Cruiserweight boxers 1980 births People from Ylihärmä Living people Sportspeople from South Ostrobothnia 21st-century Finnish sportsmen