Juho Tolppola (born 5 October 1981) is a Finnish

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 bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has challenged twice for the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

super-lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title in 2008. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

he is a three-time Finnish national champion and a bronze medallist at the 2000 European Championships. From 2015 to 2017, Tolppola served a two-year ban from boxing due to doping.Mikola, Jouni (4 September 2015)
"Juho Tolppola on kärynnyt dopingista – kahden vuoden kilpailukielto"
(in Finnish). urheiluuutiset.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

Amateur career

In his amateur career, Tolppola scored 135 wins in 175 fights, including four consecutive medals at the Finnish national

championships: gold in 1998 (

light-flyweight Light flyweight, also known as junior flyweight or super strawweight, is a Weight class (boxing), weight class in boxing. Professional boxing The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds (49 kilograms). When New York (s ...

), 2000 (

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

) and 2001 (

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

), and silver in 1999 (bantamweight). 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, winning 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 others sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges that agree on whic ...

over Anton Vontszemu. His first opportunity at a regional championship came on 26 November 2004 against Michele Orlando for the vacant

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

International

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 the ...

title. Fighting outside of Finland for the first time as a professional, Tolppola lost a narrow twelve-round

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

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. Between 2007 and 2009, Tolppola challenged for both the

and

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titles twice each, but lost all of these bouts. In his fourth attempt, against

Giuseppe Lauri Giuseppe Lauri (born 28 May 1976) is an Italian professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for more than two decades, he held the European Union super-lightweight title from 2007 to 2010, and has challenged four times for the European super-light ...

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. 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 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 fighter ...

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 ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

after he failed a drugs test for the use of

hydrochlorothiazide Hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic medication often used to treat high blood pressure and swelling due to fluid build-up. Other uses include treating diabetes insipidus and renal tubular acidosis and to decrease the risk of kidney stones in tho ...

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics in ...

to aid weight loss). The Finnish Professional Boxing Association subsequently handed Tolppola a two-year ban from boxing, effective from the Laitinen fight. In April 2016, Tolppola announced his intention to appeal the decision, maintaining his innocence and calling into question the Association's testing procedures. This appeal was rejected by a court in June of that year, who determined that there were no sufficient grounds for lifting his ban. Boxing promoter Joona Jalkanen announced in October that Tolppola would return to the ring immediately after his ban was lifted, on 13 May 2017, and would be looking to challenge for a European title at some stage,Stubin, Teemu (12 October 2016)
"Dopingista kärynnyt suomalaisnyrkkeilijä palaa kehään: Aikoo kamppailla EM-vyöstä"
(in Finnish). ''

Iltalehti ''Iltalehti'' (literally "Evening newspaper") is a tabloid newspaper published in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Iltalehti'' was established in 1980 as afternoon edition of newspaper ''Uusi Suomi''. Alma Media is the owner of ''Iltal ...

''.

Alma Media Alma Media Oyj is a Finland, Finnish media and digital service business company. Its best known products are ''Iltalehti'', ''Kauppalehti'', ''Talouselämä'', and . In addition to news services, the company's products provide information rela ...

. Retrieved 9 December 2016. but the fight did not take place.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tolppola, Juho Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers Living people 1981 births Sportspeople from Vantaa Finnish male boxers Doping cases in boxing Light-flyweight boxers Flyweight boxers Bantamweight boxers