Pertti Ilmari Purhonen (14 June 1942 – 5 February 2011) was a Finnish boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics. Domestically he collected nine consecutive Finnish titles in lightweight (1960–61), light-welterweight (1962) and

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

divisions (1963–68); he was also a Nordic champion in 1961, 1963 and 1967. In 1969 he turned professional, but retired the same year after winning his both bouts, one by knockout. He then founded a non-profit organization Kriisipalveluyhdistys (Crisis Service) that trains workers how to behave in crisis situations. During his last six years Purhonen suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. He died in 2011, aged 68, three years after being inducted into the Finnish Boxing Hall of Fame. He was buried in the

Malmi Cemetery The Malmi Cemetery (; ) is a large cemetery located at the corner between Ring I and the Lahti Highway ( E75) in the Malmi district in Helsinki, Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Euro ...

References

1942 births 2011 deaths Boxers from Helsinki Welterweight boxers Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Deaths from dementia in Finland Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Olympic medalists in boxing Finnish male boxers Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics 20th-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-Olympic-medalist-stub