Juho Tolppola (born 5 October 1981) is a Finnish professional boxer who has challenged twice for the European super-lightweight title in 2008. As an amateur he is a three-time Finnish national champion and a bronze medallist at the 2000 European Championships. From 2015 to 2017, Tolppola served a two-year ban from boxing due to doping.Mikola, Jouni (4 September 2015). "Juho Tolppola on kärynnyt dopingista – kahden vuoden kilpailukielto" (in Finnish). urheiluuutiset.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

Amateur career In his amateur career, Tolppola scored 135 wins in 175 fights,"Tolppola kohtaa Valko-Venäjän Sergei Gulyakevichin" (in Finnish). boxing.fi. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016. including four consecutive medals at the Finnish national amateur championships: gold in 1998 (light-flyweight), 2000 (flyweight) and 2001 (bantamweight), and silver in 1999 (bantamweight)."SM-mitalistit 1951-1999" (in Finnish). Suomen Nyrkkeilyliitto. Retrieved 10 January 2016."SM-Tulokset 2000" (in Finnish). Suomen Nyrkkeilyliitto. Retrieved 10 January 2016. (in Finnish). Suomen Nyrkkeilyliitto. Retrieved 10 January 2016. At the 2000 European Championships, he won a bronze medal in the flyweight division.

Professional career Tolppola made his professional debut on 10 December 2001, winning a four-round points decision over Anton Vontszemu. His first opportunity at a regional championship came on 26 November 2004 against Michele Orlando for the vacant IBF International welterweight title. Fighting outside of Finland for the first time as a professional, Tolppola lost a narrow twelve-round split decision in Orlando's native Italy. Two months later, on 28 January 2005, Tolppola went on the road again, losing a ten-round points decision to David Barnes in Scotland."Barnes is a welter belter as Finn wilts". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. 30 June 2005. 5 January 2016.

Between 2007 and 2009, Tolppola challenged for both the European and European Union super-lightweight titles twice each, but lost all of these bouts. In his fourth attempt, against Giuseppe Lauri on 30 May 2009, the fight ended in a highly controversial manner when Tolppola was first disqualified after ten rounds due to repeated fouls, after which his father stormed the ring and punched the referee."Juho Tolppolan isä kävi tuomariin käsiksi tappio-ottelun lopuksi!" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. Sanoma. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2016.

After taking a five-year break from the sport, Tolppola returned to the ring on 9 May 2014. He would score three consecutive wins by unanimous decision before challenging unbeaten Matias Laitinen for the vacant Finnish welterweight title on 23 May 2015. Tolppola won a wide ten-round unanimous decision, but in September the result was changed to a no contest after he failed a drugs test for the use of hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic to aid weight loss). The Finnish Professional Boxing Association subsequently handed Tolppola a two-year ban from boxing, effective from the Laitinen fight.

In April 2016, Tolppola announced his intention to appeal the decision, maintaining his innocence and calling into question the Association's testing procedures.Heinonen, Toni (5 April 2016). "Suomalaisnyrkkeilijän dopingtapauksesta raju riita – taistelu jatkuu käräjillä" (in Finnish). MTV3. Retrieved 25 April 2016. This appeal was rejected by a court in June of that year, who determined that there were no sufficient grounds for lifting his ban.Uusitupa, Ismo (3 June 2016). "Ammattinyrkkeilijä Juho Tolppola ei saanut keskeytettyä kilpailukieltoaan" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. Sanoma. Retrieved 4 August 2016. Boxing promoter Joona Jalkanen announced in October that Tolppola would return to the ring immediately after his ban was lifted, on 13 May 2017, and would be looking to challenge for a European title at some stage,Stubin, Teemu (12 October 2016). "Dopingista kärynnyt suomalaisnyrkkeilijä palaa kehään: Aikoo kamppailla EM-vyöstä" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. Alma Media. Retrieved 9 December 2016. but the fight did not take place.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes3325–6–1 Matias LaitinenUD1023 May 201532Win25–6–1Szabolcs SzaboUD625 Apr 201531Win24–6–1Emanuele De ProphetisUD820 Sep 201430Win23–6–1Suro IsmailovUD69 May 201429Loss22–6–1Giuseppe Lauri10 (12), 30 May 200928Win22–5–1Maurycy GojkoUD614 Feb 200927Loss21–5–1Gianluca BrancoTKO9 (12)19 Dec 200826Win21–4–1Walter Sergio GomezUD1018 Apr 200825Loss20–4–1Colin LynesUD1225 Jan 200824Draw20–3–1Alexander Saltykov4 (6), 22 Oct 200723Win20–3Arturs JaskulsUD618 May 200722Loss19–3Michele di RoccoUD1230 Jan 200721Win19–2Gabriel MapoukaUD106 Oct 200620Win18–2Nikita ZaytsevUD105 May 200619Win17–2Arturs JaskulsUD625 Mar 200618Win16–2Ariel Francisco BurgosUD1016 Jan 200617Win15–2Vadim GabrielyanTKO4 (6), 30 Sep 200516Win14–2Ivo GolakovTKO3 (6), 18 Jun 200515Win13–2Rozalin NasibulinUD64 Apr 200514Win12–2Adam ZadwornyKO4 (6), 19 Mar 200513Loss11–2David Barnes1028 Jan 200512Win11–1Deniss AleksejevsTKO4 (4)10 Dec 200411Loss10–1Michele Orlando1226 Nov 200410Win10–0Alvaro Moreno GamboaUD84 Sep 20049Win9–0Pavel NemecekTKO4 (6)16 Jul 20048Win8–0Leonti VorontsukUD823 Apr 20047Win7–0Patrik ProkopeczTKO5 (6)28 Feb 20046Win6–0Tibor Rafael2 (6), 13 Dec 20035Win5–0Andrei KomiaginTKO2 (6)17 May 20034Win4–0Oscar BlancoUD615 Feb 20033Win3–0Konstantin Flachbart2 (4)13 Sep 20022Win2–0Sergei LazarenkoUD47 Feb 20021Win1–0Anton Vontszemu410 Dec 2001

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