Tarmo "Tare" Tapani Uusivirta (5 February 1957 – 13 December 1999) was a Finnish professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1992, and challenged once for the European super-middleweight title in 1991.Kilpakenttien sankarit. Tammi. 1992. pp. 50–54. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1979 European Championships, and consecutive silver medals at the 1978 and 1982 World Championships; all in the middleweight division.
Amateur career Besides the European title, Uusivirta won silver medals at the world championships in 1978 and 1982. He competed at the 1980 Olympics and lost in the second round to the eventual bronze medalist Jerzy Rybicki.
Professional career In 1982 Uusivirta turned professional. In 1986, he had a draw with the then reigning European Champion Alex Blanchard in a non-title match. In 1987, he won against the future European champion James Cook (boxer). In 1988 he had a second draw with Blanchard, contending the IBF European super-middleweight title. In 1992, shortly before the European super-middleweight title fight against James Cook (boxer), Uusivirta suffered an injury and had to give up a close bout in the 7th round. He retired the same year with a record of 24 wins (16 knockouts), 4 losses, and 3 draws.
Retirement and death After retiring Uusivirta grew bitter and regretted his move from amateur to professional boxing. He eventually lost his job as a fireman due to alcoholism, and committed suicide at the age of 42 in 1999.
Film, book and theater Arto Halonen directed a dramatized documentary Ringside (1992) that tells a story of Uusivirta's return to the boxing ring.
Simo Rantalainen wrote a book about the boxer, Tare: Mestarinyrkkeilijän muotokuva, which was published in February 2017.
A biographical play, Mestari, written and directed by Pasi Lampela, premiered at Jyväskylä City Theatre on January 22, 2025.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes31Win24–4–3Shannon LandbergUD85 Apr 199230Loss23–4–3James CookRTD7 (12), 22 Oct 199129Win23–3–3Ron Lee WarriorKO117 Jun 199128Win22–3–3Kenny SchaeferTKO7 (10)25 Mar 199127Win21–3–3Jimmy ShaversKO5, 3 Dec 199026Win20–3–3Irving HinesTKO4 (10), 5 Nov 199025Win19–3–3Troy WatsonUD81 Oct 199024Win18–3–3William ClaytonKO1 (8), 20 Aug 199023Draw17–3–3Alex Blanchard1212 Dec 198822Win17–3–2Gonzalo MenchoKO4 (8)11 Sep 198821Win16–3–2Harry CowapRTD3 (10), 15 May 198820Win15–3–2Tony BurkeRTD8 (10), 7 Feb 198819Win14–3–2Mbuyanba KalomboPTS615 Jan 198818Win13–3–2James Cook1026 Oct 198717Draw12–3–2Enrico ScacchiaPTS1026 Dec 198616Win12–3–1Joe CooperTKO2 (6)21 Nov 198615Win11–3–1Jimmy CablePTS109 Nov 198614Draw10–3–1Alex Blanchard1026 Mar 198613Win10–3Philippe SeysKO224 Nov 198512Win9–3Paul TchouePTS811 May 198511Win8–3Willie WrightPTS89 Mar 198510Win7–3Esperno PostlTKO327 Oct 19849Loss6–3Jose SeysTKO521 May 19848Loss6–2Anthony Holt811 May 19847Win6–1Juan Munoz HolgadoKO3 (6)18 Feb 19846Win5–1Martin McEwanKO217 Dec 19835Loss4–1Dick KatendePTS85 Nov 19834Win4–0Maurice Bufi518 Sep 19833Win3–0Andre Mongelema5, 9 Apr 19832Win2–0Deano Wallace21 Oct 19821Win1–0Mick Morris625 Jun 1982
References
Further reading Rantalainen, Simo (2017). Tare: mestarinyrkkeilijän muotokuva (in Finnish). Johnny Kniga. .
External links