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Home » Juho Haapoja, Petteri Fröjdholm contest EU belts on March 25 in Helsinki

Juho Haapoja, Petteri Fröjdholm contest EU belts on March 25 in Helsinki

The relentless “Troublemaker of Härmä” Juho Haapoja (27–7–2, 16 KOs) takes on Italian Leonardo Damian Bruzzese (17–2, 6 KOs) for the cruiserweight title, and Petteri Fröjdholm (11–0, 4 KOs) battles Faroukh Kourbanov (12–0, 3 KOs) for the super featherweight title in a clash of two unbeaten warriors.

The main event features two boxers who have both fought for the EU title before. Haapoja won the title on 2011 as he scored an unanimous decision over Faisal Ibnel Arrami from France. Bruzzese fought Maurizio Lovaglio for the title in 2015, but lost by TKO.

Haapoja, who has never shunned a challenge and fought for both EBU cruiserweight title in 2012 and WBC Silver cruiserweight title in 2014, vows that this is a “make it or break it” -situation: if the fight doesn’t go his way, he hangs up the gloves for good.

“I made that promise to my wife. But rest assured, it won’t go to that!” Haapoja says.

“My preparations have been excellent. I went to London for three weeks and got some good, hard sparring there. I’ll return to England this Friday to spar some more. Bruzzese will get a pasting he’ll remember for the rest of his life.”

In the co-feature fight Faroukh Kourbanov replaces Ruddy Encarnacion, whom EBU first named as Fröjdholm’s opponent. Encarnacion pulled out from the fight in December, and the Belgian Kourbanov took his place. The fight was originally scheduled to be held on 3rd March in Oulu, Finland, but was re-scheduled and moved to Helsinki.

The event, dubbed as Kisahalli Fight Night, is promoted by Dominus Boxing Group and will be live streamed by Viaplay.