Lost boxing hope Vilma Viitanen returns to the ring – harsh assessment of Kalle Palander

“I was so exhausted. If the place had come, I don’t know if I would have lasted the next two months of full training. It went the way it went,” it was meant to go that way.

Exactly two years ago, boxer Vilma Viitanen was left out of the Paris Olympics in the narrowest possible way. Viitanen won three matches in the Olympic qualifiers and lost the semi-final. After that, he got another chance to fight against the loser in the second semi-final.

Viitanen lost that match and the last Olympic spot that was shared, with a 3-2 decision by the judges. It didn’t help that he out-counted his opponent in the last set.

“The Olympic place was as close as it can be, but I’m not bitter. Askarin (coach Soldier Sarsenbajev) and we just stated that this is boxing. “

Friend, former club mate and national teammate Pihla Kaivo-oja claimed an Olympic spot in his own series by winning three matches. It would have been nice to go to Paris together. But Viitanen is not sure if he could have taken it anymore.

Viitanen had already decided that he would have to take a longer break either after the qualifiers or the Olympics. Or stop altogether.

Cloak was the promise of Finnish boxing for years. He has been boxing since he was 7 years old, touring international competitions since he was in middle school. He moved from Mikkeli to Tampere to follow the sport when he was only 16 years old.

Viitanen has won EC medals in the under-17 and under-22 categories. He has a total of 12 Finnish championships, four of which he managed to acquire in the adult series.

“It was very clear that I needed to draw oxygen. The passion had disappeared. There was no more love for the sport, there was only drilling.”

The constant hard weight lifting had pushed the body to its limits.

“A lot of traveling and nonstop weight lifting. The body started to break down. Every female boxer will surely go through this at some point.”

Now 24-year-old Viitanen has lived a normal life for two years. It has felt incredibly good. Viitanen has finished his studies as a clinical veterinarian and has entered working life. He has worked so hard that he knows what it’s like when he doesn’t have time or can’t work out in everyday life.

“Such a basic working life. I also started the qualification for a close supervisor last fall, a bit of further education. I also have two dogs, I live with them and have a little fun.”

In addition to the day job at the veterinary clinic, Viitanen does a gig as a security guard and guides fitness boxing training at Juju Pispala’s gym.

For a break after staying, Viitanen didn’t enter Nääshalli in Tampere for at least a year, where he trained twice a day for years. I wasn’t even interested in watching boxing. But when the old coach Askar Sarsenbayev and training partner Niaz Ahmadi started training at Pispala’s gym, Viitanen ended up joining the group.

“Even then I didn’t think about returning, there was no spark. As long as I was training.”

Gym owner and promoter of Beazt Fight Eemil Ordell called Viitane at the beginning of the year and asked him to join his matches on June 13.

“I thought he had something to do with training, but he was such a jerk. What is the career situation? I thought about it for five seconds and said, well, I’ll come.”

After the call, Viitas regretted it for a while.

“For a couple of days I thought, what the hell I agreed to. I haven’t worked out and I know what to weigh.”

After the sports career stopped, it was liberating when everything no longer had to be optimized. Not thinking about protein amounts in food portions, recovery and going to bed. But my own health was too much in the background. Viitanen ate what he could, when he could.

He no longer felt very good in his own body.

But now the sports self has woken up.

“Now that I actually work out and eat well, I feel much more energetic. However, I have grown into this lifestyle.”

For years Viitanen, who did constant heavy lifting, was initially nervous about how his body would react to the comeback project. The fear was pointless, everything has gone well. Viitanen has dared to eat enough according to the nutrition coach’s diet. Training and load have been increased little by little.

“Now I am more than grateful for that call.”

The break has done its job, the body and mind have rested.

“If I had just continued boxing, I don’t know if anything good would have followed. Now I feel free and I like boxing again. I’m looking forward to training and getting into the ring.”

In the match in Tallinn, Viitanen will face the Estonian Thai boxing world champion Sigrid Kapasen in the 63 kg weight class. The cage match does not go under official records, but the setting is like a professional boxing match.

On the same evening, a media personality will also compete Aleksi Valavuori and ex-alpine skier Kalle Palander. Viitanen’s coach also acts as Palander’s coach.

Viitanen has watched in the gym how a former alpine skier has been trained to become a boxer. He praises Palander’s attitude. Palander’s appearance has also undergone a big change.

“The attitude is more than appropriate, you can see that he has been a top athlete. He respects the sport and doesn’t slack off at all. Palander gives his all in training. He also looks like a completely different person than in the winter, he has lost a lot of weight.”

At least there are big stakes in the brawl.

Viitanen doesn’t comment on the award except that he will get one.

“If I made my professional boxing debut somewhere, I probably wouldn’t have gotten this kind of money.”

Will the career continue after Beazt Fight June night?

“I decided not to take pressure from anything when I agreed to this. I’ll see how I feel, what my body and mind say. But I’ve enjoyed this and everything works out… so it won’t end there.”