Juho Tolppola

Juho Tolppola
Statistics
Nickname(s)	TNT
Rated at	Light-welterweight Welterweight
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Nationality	Finnish
Born	(1981-10-05) 5 October 1981 Vantaa, Greater Helsinki, Finland
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	33
Wins	25
Wins by KO	9
Losses	6
Draws	1
No contests	1
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Finnish national championships 1998 Helsinki Light-flyweight 2000 Helsinki Flyweight 2001 Helsinki Bantamweight 1999 Helsinki Bantamweight Representing  Finland European Championships 2000 Tampere Flyweight

Juho Tolppola (born 5 October 1981) is a Finnish professional boxer who fights at welterweight and has twice challenged for the European super-lightweight title.^[1] As an amateur he is a three-time Finnish national champion and a bronze medallist at the European Championships. Tolppola is currently serving a two-year ban from boxing due to doping.^[2]

Amateur career

Tolppola won four consecutive medals at the Finnish national amateur championships: gold in 1998 (light-flyweight), 2000 (flyweight) and 2001 (bantamweight), and silver in 1999 (bantamweight).^[3][4][5] At the 2000 European Championships, he won a bronze medal in the flyweight division.

Professional career

Tolppola made his professional debut on 10 December 2001, scoring a four-round points decision over Anton Vontszemu.^[1] His first title fight came on 26 November 2004 against Michele Orlando for the vacant IBF International welterweight title. Fighting outside of Finland for the first time as a professional, Tolppola lost a narrow twelve-round split decision in Orlando's native Italy. Two months later, on 28 January 2005, Tolppola went on the road again, losing a ten-round points decision to David Barnes in Scotland.^[6]

Between 2007 and 2009, Tolppola challenged for both the European and European Union super-lightweight titles twice each, but lost all of those bouts. In his fourth attempt, against Giuseppe Lauri on 30 May 2009, the fight ended in a highly controversial manner when Tolppola was first disqualified after ten rounds due to repeated fouls, after which his father stormed the ring and punched the referee.^[7]

After taking a five-year break from the sport, Tolppola returned to the ring on 9 May 2014. He would score three consecutive wins by unanimous decision before challenging unbeaten Matias Laitinen for the vacant Finnish welterweight title on 23 May 2015. Tolppola won a wide ten-round unanimous decision, but in September the result was changed to a no contest after he failed a drugs test for the use of hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic to aid weight loss). The Finnish Professional Boxing Association subsequently handed Tolppola a two-year ban from boxing.^[2]

In April 2016, Tolppola announced his intention to appeal the decision, maintaining his innocence and calling into question the Association's testing procedures.^[8] This appeal was rejected by a court in June 2016, who determined that there were no sufficient grounds for lifting his ban.^[9]

Professional boxing record

References