Gunnar Bärlund made himself a big favorite of Finns and got on the cover of The Ring magazine

– I was a tall boyish boy.

This is how he remembers his teenage years Gunnar Bärlund Pekka Tiilikainen In a 1960s interview recording.

Bärlund was a “tall kloppi” in Helsinki’s Vallila between the wars. Training for the rough streets of the eastern edge of the inner city was done in boxing gyms.

– One boy had a sandbag in the basement, Bärlund says.

– I guess that’s where I got the enthusiasm started. I joined (Vallila’s) Jyry and started boxing.

Olympic visit

Ilmo Lounasheimo says in his iconic boxing work Heroes of the ring Bärlund was so weak as a child that he was forbidden to take part in gymnastics classes.

– This genuine Vallila kundi was so mild in nature that he was constantly under the knife in the mutual rustling of the boys. Introverted, he started boxing at the age of 14, Lounasheimo writes.

– The first appearance in the ring was not the best possible, because significantly more experienced Sulo Pohjola knocked out the 70-pound 16-year-old in the first round.

Bärlund refined and became stronger. The club changed to Kiffen, the series eventually became heavy.

Bärlund, who became number one in Finland and the Nordic countries, went to Los Angeles in the summer of 1932 to seek Olympic success, but lost in the opening match to the eventual gold medalist For Santiago Lovell with points.

– Lovell boxed in a forward bend, swinging his body from side to side, and GeeBee didn’t get any decent hits until the last round, Lounasheimo explains.

– The general opinion that Lovell and Bärlund had a moral final match of the series brought some comfort.

Evenings in the fair hall

Bärlund won the European Championship in 1934. He lost to Germany in the final Herbert Rungewho celebrated Olympic gold two years later.

When Runge struck at his home Olympics, Bärlund had already left the amateur rings. His professional career started in the fall of 1934 in Gothenburg with four matches, of which three wins and one rejection loss were recorded on the scoreboard.

Bärlund grew up to be one of the most popular Finnish athletes of the last millennium. The basis of the popularity was created during 1935 in two professional evenings at Messuhalli, where Bärlund knocked out by Arno Kölblin and Joe La Roe.

In the background is a Swedish manager Bertil Kylander.

– At first I was in Sweden practicing my new profession and with quite good success, but after a while I didn’t want to have opponents anymore and I didn’t want too much money, which I was after, Bärlund recalls.

– I changed managers and moved to America.

MSG door open

The new manager was German Paul Damski. He took his protégé to New York, to the Hippodrome Theater nights, the first of which also featured the future heavyweight champion of the world Joe Louis.

Bärlund took a streak of four wins and started rising in the prestigious ranking list of The Ring magazine – until three losses came and he returned to Finland.

Bärlund pondered the meaning of the whole thing, but eventually left for New York again. In the fall of 1937, he got on a winning streak again and beat Santiago Lovell, his Olympic champion, who also gave up his shirt.

Strong grips opened the door to Madison Square Garden. Bärlund knocked out rock hard By Buddy Baera former world champion Max Baer’s little brother – who was anything but little.

The Baer victory raised the eyebrows of the experts. The Ring promoted Bärlund’s new champion Joe Louis as the second challenger and a little later on the cover with accompanying lyrics Finland’s heavyweight Threat.

The Finns dreamed of having the World Cup match in Helsinki. The ballpark or the brand new Olympic Stadium was planned as the stage.

A bloody defeat For Lou Nova in his second and also final MSG appearance, started a downward spiral, and the championship match never materialized.

– As a professional, the worst (opponent) was Nova, who punched me in the eye so much that the match had to be stopped. At that time, I was on the threshold of getting really close to the money.

Bärlund states in Tiilikainen’s interview that he didn’t get to the “giant sums” in the United States either, but professional bread nonetheless.

– At least the weight didn’t go down.

Hardworking professional

Bärlund was a hard-working striker. He fought 87 times as a professional, of which Boxrec recorded 56 wins, 30 losses and one draw.

Defeats or even losing streaks did not take away the favorite position. The few visits to Finland attracted thousands of people to the train station, and winning matches were noted by being played on the radio March of Pori citizens.

Bärlund ended his career in 1948. He settled in the United States and worked on buildings in New York, among other things.

– I have often wondered why my father was so popular in Finland, and I haven’t really found a suitable answer, says Bärlundin Dick-son Hewn in stone in the work.

– I believe that the time after the war was suitable for a Finnish hero coming from the USA.

NFL reservation

Dick Barlund didn’t become a boxer but a skilled Yankee fighter.

– Basically, my father was a very quiet, modest, humble man. He never forced boxing on me, although he followed it closely himself and made regular reports to Helsingin Sanomat. When I was older, sometime in my teens, I only started to realize how highly my father was and still is valued in boxing circles.

Barlund was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 15th round in 1962, but knee problems ate away at the NFL dream.

– The contract was already in my pocket, the playbook in my bag and the plane ticket to the camp, when the doctor said that if I hurt my knee again, I would never walk again. The decision to give up was easy after that, but of course a big disappointment.

Statue to Vallila

It will be 40 years since Bärlund’s death in August. In his last years, he had both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

– More recently, it has become clear that boxing killed the father, Dick Barlund puts it.

– Mother was always afraid for father, but at the same time she was proud. At that time, the risks of boxing were not understood in the same way as today.

A handsome statue was erected along Bärlund’s old home street in 1991. Another significant form of respect is the GeeBee tournament every spring.

– He was American at heart – but always Finnish at heart.

Sources: Ilmo Lounasheimo: Heroes of the Circle (WSOY 1987), Arto Teronen & Jouko Vuolle; Hewn in stone – in the wake of sports heroism (Kirjapaja 2009) and Ylen’s Living Archive.