Juho Haapoja (born 22 October 1980) is a Finnish former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2017, and held the European Union cruiserweight title twice between 2011 and 2017.
Professional career Haapoja made his professional debut on 8 April 2006, losing a four-round points decision to Remigijus Ziausys, who also debuted. A ten-round split draw against Jari Markkanen on 16 March 2007 denied Haapoja a chance to win the Finnish heavyweight 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 after Rosberg was caught for steroids.
On 23 September 2011, Haapoja won his first major regional title by defeating Faisal Ibnel Arrami via unanimous decision (UD) to become the European Union 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 on 15 December 2012 (unanimous decision)."Haapojan sitkeä taistelu ei riittänyt - Masternak pysyi voittamattomana" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Sanoma. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2016. Consecutive losses came against Silvio Branco on 6 July 2013 (tenth-round technical decision)Sukachev, Alexey (6 July 2013). "Silvio Branco Gets WBC Silver Title, Decisions Haapoja". BoxingScene. Retrieved 1 January 2016. and Rakhim Chakhkiyev on 15 March 2014 (ninth-round TKO),Sukachev, Alexey (25 March 2014). "Drozd Demolishes Ouanna, Chakhkiev Stops Haapoja". BoxingScene. Retrieved 1 January 2016. both times for the vacant WBC Silver cruiserweight title.
Haapoja suffered his sixth professional loss on 31 January 2015, when he was stopped in two rounds by Serhiy Demchenko.Persson, Per Ake (15 January 2015). "Demchenko Shocks Juho Haapoja in Two Rounds". BoxingScene. Retrieved 1 January 2016. 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
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes39LossAlexandru JurSD1221 Oct 201738Win28–7–2 Damian BruzzeseUD1225 Mar 201737Win27–7–2 Tamas LodiUD1017 Sep 201636Loss26–7–2 Tamas LodiKO3 (10), 2 Apr 201635Win26–6–2 Miguel VelozoKO7 (8), 19 Dec 201534Draw25–6–2 Serhiy DemchenkoSD1023 May 201533Win25–6–1 Jevgēņijs AndrejevsUD611 Apr 201532Loss24–6–1 Serhiy DemchenkoTKO2 (10), 31 Jan 201531Win24–5–1 Attila PalkoTKO1 (6), 20 Sep 201430Win23–5–1 Jevgēņijs AndrejevsUD616 Aug 201429Win22–5–1 Frank WhiteTKO5 (10), 7 Jun 201428Win21–5–1 Łukasz RusiewiczUD617 May 201427Loss20–5–1 Rakhim ChakhkiyevTKO9 (12), 15 Mar 201426Loss20–4–1 Silvio Branco10 (12)6 Jul 201325Win20–3–1 Michele De MeoTKO1 (10), 20 Apr 201324Win19–3–1 Levan JomardashviliRTD5 (6), 9 Mar 201323Loss18–3–1 Mateusz MasternakUD1215 Dec 201222Win18–2–1 Francesco VersaciRTD4 (12), 15 Sep 201221Win17–2–1 Ian TimsUD1221 Jan 201220Win16–2–1 Faisal Ibnel ArramiUD1223 Sep 201119Win15–2–1 Roman KracikUD1021 May 201118Win14–2–1 Mantas TarvydasTKO4 (8), 4 Mar 201117Win13–2–1 Zoltan CzekusTKO2 (8), 13 Nov 201016Win12–2–1 Antonio Pedro QuigangaTKO4 (6), 29 May 201015Win11–2–1 Pāvels DolgovsUD620 Mar 20101410–2–1 Jarno RosbergSD1027 Nov 200913Win10–2–1Humberto EvoraSD622 Aug 200912Win9–2–1Stanislav Lukyanchikov3 (6), 14 Mar 200911Win8–2–1Valeri SemiskurTKO2 (8), 21 Feb 200910Win7–2–1Sami ElovaaraTKO9 (10)28 Nov 20089Win6–2–1Jevgēņijs StamburskisTKO1 (6), 30 Aug 20088Loss5–2–1Denis Bakhtov10 (12), 22 May 20087Win5–1–1Daniil Peretyatko85 Apr 20086Win4–1–1Yuri LunevTKO3 (6), 2 Nov 20075Win3–1–1Oleg AgafonovTKO1 (6), 15 Sep 20074Draw2–1–1Jari Markkanen1016 Mar 20073Win2–1Sergey Bakin4 (6), 1 Dec 20062Win1–1Pavel Baryshnikov423 Sep 20061Loss0–1Remigijus Žiaušys48 Apr 2006
References
External links Official website (archived)