By Alexey Sukachev

Caramelito Promotions (ruled by Petro Kosikimies and Markus Lammi) staged a small but very nicely-packed little show at Ruissalon liikuntahalli in Hamina, Finland. World-class heavyweight Robert Helenius was at hand to put his signed gloves up for auction. They've been sold for 1000 Euros, a nice amount to support a local boxing club, which was presented with this helpful gift. A small arena was fully filled in with boxing fans and dedicated followers of the sport, who came in to see low-profile but still exciting boxing.

A minor upset took place in the main event. Hard-hitting local cruiserweight champion Janne Forsman appeared to be the superior fighter in the first half of his match-up with Hungarian native Tamas Lodi, but faded down the stretch and was stopped in very painful fashion at the end of the eleventh round.

The end couldn't be foreseen during the opening rounds of this twelve-rounder. Forsman moved forward with his gloves high, trying to land and landing his left uppercut with authority. Lodi (12-1-1, 10 KOs), who was stopped in one by Ilunga Makabu this March, was content with constant movement backwards, trying to preserve stamina and nto to eat to many punches. The next rounds were mostly the same but it soon became clear that Lodi wasn't hurt by any of the Finnish champion's damaging blows. He moved confidently out of trouble and felt well, despite being passive and losing rounds on the scorecards. The Hungarian's jab was very effective, and Forsman's head started reddening in the midst of the fight.

In later rounds, Forsman started to fade with increasing tempo. His mouth opened, he was coming after Lodi and landed some heavy leather but lost more energy doing that than the Hungarian. Lodi started to mix his jabs with cracking power punches to frustrate Forsman even more. In the ninth, Lodi was already fighting on even terms with the Finn. In the tenth he put him down with a one-two combination late into the stanza. Finally, in the eleventh, Forsman, totally gassed and tired, went in and was hit several times by Hungarian, then put in a dangerous position in the center of the ring, and finally was knocked out cold with a huge left bomb.

Forsman was lying on the canvas for more than five minutes before being put upright. He suffered his first career loss, and his record now reads as 12-1, with 9 KOs. Lodi is the new WBO European cruiserweight champion after this win.

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In a unified Finnish and BBU middleweight title fight, local Kosovar Fitim Latifi, 23, the BBU 160lb titleholder, continued his unbeaten streak with a hard-earned but honest win over defending national champion Timo Juhani Laine (9-3, 0 KOs) over ten rounds. Latifi started fast with his potent jab, but Laine exploded with a series of hard right hands at the end of the first. The pattern was set after that: Latifi was using his speed and body movement to frustrate slower Laine, six years his senior. The BBU champion also showed ring grit and considerable skills set to look a little bit better than his opponent in each round.

Both combatants got tired to the end of the fight but still threw multiple combinations for the joy of local crowd. At the end all three judges had it unanimously for Fitim Latifi (8-0, 1 KO) - 98-94, 100-91 and 100-90. BoxingScene also saw it for Fitim Latifi: 98-92.

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In an absolute thriller, Mika Ritala made his pro debut and stopped Mikko Sateri (1-1, 1 KO) in the third round of scheduled four. Both fighters engaged into a fascinating war immediately after the starting bell. Sateri was a better fighter in the first. he continued to dominate and put Ritala down twice in the third, but both knockdowns weren't hard, while Sateri looked very fatigued after his breakthrough round. His stamina gave away in the third, and Ritala continued to punch until Sateri found his slavation on the canvas - for a full count of ten.

Middleweight Pertti Keita (4-2, 0 KOs) scored a hard-fought victory over Georgian import Renat Samedov (6-9-1, 1 KO). Keita looked a better fighter but fought with his right eye completely shut in the last round. Scores were: 40-36, 39-37 and 39-36 - for Keita.