# Juho Haapoja

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). Consecutive losses came against Silvio Branco on 6 July 2013 (tenth-round technical decision) and Rakhim Chakhkiyev on 15 March 2014 (ninth-round TKO), 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. 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.

## Professional boxing record

| 39 fights | 28 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 16 | 4 |
| By decision | 12 | 4 |
| Draws | 2 | 2 |
| No contests | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 39 | Loss | 28–8–2 (1) | Alexandru Jur | SD | 12 | 21 Oct 2017 | PowerPark, Kauhava, Finland | Lost European Union cruiserweight title |
| 38 | Win | 28–7–2 (1) | Damian Bruzzese | UD | 12 | 25 Mar 2017 | Töölö Sports Hall, Helsinki, Finland | Won vacant European Union cruiserweight title |
| 37 | Win | 27–7–2 (1) | Tamas Lodi | UD | 10 | 17 Sep 2016 | Seinäjoki Areena, Seinäjoki, Finland | |
| 36 | Loss | 26–7–2 (1) | Tamas Lodi | KO | 3 (10), 1:04 | 2 Apr 2016 | Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland | |
| 35 | Win | 26–6–2 (1) | Miguel Velozo | KO | 7 (8), 2:48 | 19 Dec 2015 | Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland | |
| 34 | Draw | 25–6–2 (1) | Serhiy Demchenko | SD | 10 | 23 May 2015 | PowerPark, Kauhava, Finland | |
| 33 | Win | 25–6–1 (1) | Jevgēņijs Andrejevs | UD | 6 | 11 Apr 2015 | Tervahalli, Kemi, Finland | |
| 32 | Loss | 24–6–1 (1) | Serhiy Demchenko | TKO | 2 (10), 2:10 | 31 Jan 2015 | PowerPark, Kauhava, Finland | |
| 31 | Win | 24–5–1 (1) | Attila Palko | TKO | 1 (6), 2:35 | 20 Sep 2014 | Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland | |
| 30 | Win | 23–5–1 (1) | Jevgēņijs Andrejevs | UD | 6 | 16 Aug 2014 | Olavinlinna, Savonlinna, Finland | |
| 29 | Win | 22–5–1 (1) | Frank White | TKO | 5 (10), 2:50 | 7 Jun 2014 | PowerPark, Kauhava, Finland | |
| 28 | Win | 21–5–1 (1) | Łukasz Rusiewicz | UD | 6 | 17 May 2014 | Salohalli, Salo, Finland | |
| 27 | Loss | 20–5–1 (1) | Rakhim Chakhkiyev | TKO | 9 (12), 0:26 | 15 Mar 2014 | Dynamo Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia | For vacant WBC Silver cruiserweight title |
| 26 | Loss | 20–4–1 (1) | Silvio Branco | TD | 10 (12) | 6 Jul 2013 | Stadio Tommaso Fattori, Civitavecchia, Italy | For vacant WBC Silver cruiserweight title; Unanimous TD: Branco cut from an accidental head clash |
| 25 | Win | 20–3–1 (1) | Michele De Meo | TKO | 1 (10), 2:34 | 20 Apr 2013 | Pyynikin palloiluhalli, Tampere, Finland | |
| 24 | Win | 19–3–1 (1) | Levan Jomardashvili | RTD | 5 (6), 2:44 | 9 Mar 2013 | Barona Areena, Espoo, Finland | |
| 23 | Loss | 18–3–1 (1) | Mateusz Masternak | UD | 12 | 15 Dec 2012 | Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany | For vacant European heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 18–2–1 (1) | Francesco Versaci | RTD | 4 (12), 0:01 | 15 Sep 2012 | Seinäjoki Areena, Seinäjoki, Finland | Retained European Union heavyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 17–2–1 (1) | Ian Tims | UD | 12 | 21 Jan 2012 | Seinäjoki Areena, Seinäjoki, Finland | Retained European Union heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 16–2–1 (1) | Faisal Ibnel Arrami | UD | 12 | 23 Sep 2011 | Ice Hall, Helsinki, Finland | Won vacant European Union heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 15–2–1 (1) | Roman Kracik | UD | 10 | 21 May 2011 | Seinäjoki Areena, Seinäjoki, Finland | |
| 18 | Win | 14–2–1 (1) | Mantas Tarvydas | TKO | 4 (8), 2:24 | 4 Mar 2011 | Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland | |
| 17 | Win | 13–2–1 (1) | Zoltan Czekus | TKO | 2 (8), 1:28 | 13 Nov 2010 | Seinäjoki Areena, Seinäjoki, Finland | |
| 16 | Win | 12–2–1 (1) | Antonio Pedro Quiganga | TKO | 4 (6), 0:39 | 29 May 2010 | Anssin Jussin Areena, Ylihärmä, Finland | |
| 15 | Win | 11–2–1 (1) | Pāvels Dolgovs | UD | 6 | 20 Mar 2010 | Liikunta-kulttuuritalo, Juuka, Finland | |
| 14 | NC | 10–2–1 (1) | Jarno Rosberg | SD | 10 | 27 Nov 2009 | Pyynikin palloiluhalli, Tampere, Finland | Finnish heavyweight title at stake; Originally SD win for Rosberg, later ruled NC after he failed a drug test |
| 13 | Win | 10–2–1 | Humberto Evora | SD | 6 | 22 Aug 2009 | The Circus, Helsinki, Finland | |
| 12 | Win | 9–2–1 | Stanislav Lukyanchikov | RTD | 3 (6), 3:00 | 14 Mar 2009 | Urheiluhalli, Kemi, Finland | |
| 11 | Win | 8–2–1 | Valeri Semiskur | TKO | 2 (8), 1:40 | 21 Feb 2009 | Rewell Center, Vaasa, Finland | Retained Baltic Boxing Union heavyweight title |
| 10 | Win | 7–2–1 | Sami Elovaara | TKO | 9 (10) | 28 Nov 2008 | Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland | Won vacant Finnish heavyweight title |
| 9 | Win | 6–2–1 | Jevgēņijs Stamburskis | TKO | 1 (6), 2:54 | 30 Aug 2008 | Metroauto-areena, Tampere, Finland | |
| 8 | Loss | 5–2–1 | Denis Bakhtov | KO | 10 (12), 1:59 | 22 May 2008 | Yubileyny Sports Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia | For WBC Asian interim and vacant PABA heavyweight titles |
| 7 | Win | 5–1–1 | Daniil Peretyatko | SD | 8 | 5 Apr 2008 | Maapohjahalli, Vaasa, Finland | Won Baltic Boxing Union heavyweight title |
| 6 | Win | 4–1–1 | Yuri Lunev | TKO | 3 (6), 1:28 | 2 Nov 2007 | Anssin Jussin Areena, Ylihärmä, Finland | |
| 5 | Win | 3–1–1 | Oleg Agafonov | TKO | 1 (6), 1:37 | 15 Sep 2007 | Maapohjahalli, Vaasa, Finland | |
| 4 | Draw | 2–1–1 | Jari Markkanen | SD | 10 | 16 Mar 2007 | Kuopiohalli, Kuopio, Finland | For Finnish heavyweight title |
| 3 | Win | 2–1 | Sergey Bakin | TKO | 4 (6), 1:42 | 1 Dec 2006 | Urheiluhalli, Vaasa, Finland | |
| 2 | Win | 1–1 | Pavel Baryshnikov | UD | 4 | 23 Sep 2006 | Kylpylä, Ylihärmä, Finland | |
| 1 | Loss | 0–1 | Remigijus Žiaušys | PTS | 4 | 8 Apr 2006 | Ravintola Umpitunneli, Tornio, Finland | |