Sten SUVIO

As a youth, Sten Suvio played football and was also a promising wrestler and speed skater. Suvio took up boxing in 1927 and at his first Finnish Championship in 1929 he won a silver, repeating that medal in 1930. From 1933-36, Suvio was the Finnish welterweight champion four times in a row. At the 1936 Olympics, Suvio defeated all his five opponents by decision to win an Olympic welterweight gold. After the Olympics, Suvio turned professional and fought until 1949, winning the Finnish professional welterweight title in 1946. Suvio retired from professional boxing with a record of 34 wins (KO 15), 9 losses and 3 draws. After his boxing career, Suvio worked as a boxing coach, serving as the coach of the Swedish national boxing team from 1949-57 and after that worked three years as a coach with the Turkish national boxing team. Suvio was selected to the Finnish Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.