Haapoja Keeps His EU Belt Against Tims

By Mikko Salo: Finnish cruiserweight Juho Haapoja (17-2-1, 10 KO) defended his EU title successfully on Saturday night in Seinäjoki, Finland in front of about 2,500 hometown fans. The challenger, previously undefeated Irish titlist Ian Tims (9-1, 3 KO) put forth a game effort, but Haapoja prevailed via a well-earned unanimous decision.

After a feel-out first round Haapoja started to work behind his jab, mixing in some hooks and uppercuts. The champion was able to score with some good shots to the body. Tims, although the taller fighter, was very willing to fight in close quarters and had some success in the third round landing some good uppercuts. In the fourth Haapoja kept walking Tims down. Both scored with quality shots, Tims’ countered successfully against Haapoja`s offensive style.

In the fifth round the pace slowed down with Tims taking more of the initiative. Haapoja`s hands were faster and he was able to score with some crisp hooks despite Tims` pressure. In the sixth and seventh stanza Haapoja resumed the aggression with both fighters landing some good combinations to the head and body. The eighth round saw Haapoja landing a very good hook to Tims`s head stopping the Irishman in his tracks, but the game challenger shook it off swiftly, Haapoja not being able to take advantage of the shot.

In the ninth and tenth rounds the action continued with both fighters trading quality blows. Haapoja started to tire a bit in the tenth with Tims taking the more active role. The titlist came back to life in the eleventh, landing some of the hardest shots of the match. When round twelve began, Haapoja`s corner was confident that their fighter had the upper hand in the contest. The Finn let Tims come forward, staying out of harm`s way, but in the end both fighters let their hands go with good inside exchanges.

T

he judges saw the fight unanimously in Haapoja`s favor by the scores of 116-112, 115-113, 115-113. This was in line with the action in the ring. Through most of the fight Haapoja was able to slightly outwork the brave challenger, landing the harder blows even though he wasn`s able to seriously hurt the tough Irishman. Haapoja now has his sights set on the vacant European title.

The Seinäjoki undercard offered fight fans some fairly good performances from the Finnish prospects on display. Super featherweight Eva Wahlström (7-0-1, 3 KO) tuned up for her March title fight for the vacant European belt by dominating her way to an eight round lopsided decision over Hungarian Zsofia Bedö (4-24-1). The all-Finnish clash between two undefeated welterweights saw Jussi Koivula (11-0, 3 KO) score a hard fought eight round decision against brave Jarkko Jussila (4-1, 2 KO).

Heavyweight Jarno Rosberg (13-0, 4 KO) took home a six-round decision against Pavel Dolgovs (8-17-2, 5 KO), as did super lightweight Jaakko Myllylä (11-0-1, 4 KO) against Jevgenijs Fjodorovs (7-29-3, 2 KO).

The fight night also saw two knockout victories, scored in the first round by super lightweight Jarkko Putkonen (3-0, 2 KO) over Karoly Lakatos (11-33-1, 5 KO) and by Stanislavs Leonovs (3-3, 3 KO) over debutante Mika Haapasalmi (0-1).

January 22, 2012