May 30, Helsinki, Finland:
Italian Giuseppe Lauri defended the EU jr welter title with a controversial tenth round disqualification win over Finn Juhu Tolppola after a hardfought, foul-filled, messy fight. Tolppola was “up” for this fight but partly blew it already at the end of the first when he headbutted Lauri. That resulted in a two-point deduction from British referee Howard Foster. Another point was taken in the sixth for either holding or low blows. Finally, in the tenth Foster dq:d Tolppola, behind on points on all three cards. For my money Lauri was just as guilty as Juho but committed his “crimes” in a slicker, more polished way and when the Finn retaliated he became the guilty one. A bad break for Tolppola, who´s improved but needs a colder head.
30.05 Tolppola DQ:d!
