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Sanna Rauta
was born on April 26, 1969 in Tampere, Finland but lived in Sweden, where she made her
name as an amateur boxer with a 36-2 record, boxing from the Linköping club.
On October 25 1998 in Köping, Sweden she defeated Elena Khadsi of Russia 3-0.
At the Swedish Women's National Championships
held 10-13 December 1998 in Lund, she won the 57-kg (126 lb) division
by defeating Teuta Palushaj (Enighet) by a 10-6 margin.
At the 1998 Nordic Women's Championships, Sanna Rauta
won the 60-kg (132 lb) final over Norway's Henriette Birkeland, 5-1
On March 24, 1999 in the first leg of the Canada-Sweden Dual in
Sudbury/Azilda, Ontario, she fought in the 57-kg division
and defeated Jeannine Garside of Duncan, British Columbia by a 12-6 score.
According to a report in the National Post, "The two boxers exchanged punishing combinations, lefts and rights,
and then lefts again. Their footwork was smooth and well-practised, their leads and jabs were
crisp, the hurt -- though safely cushioned -- was real. And afterward, when Rauta was pronounced
the winner, Garside's disappointment, as hard as she tried to swallow it, was deeply felt.
'I box because I truly love it,' she said. 'Boxing is a great sport. It's not a street fight,
it's not a brawl, and it's not a circus. We're doing it because we love the sport.'
Three
days later in the second leg of the same meet, held at
the Atlas Boxing Club in Toronto, Ontario, she defeated
Danielle Bouchard of Quebec by a 7-4 margin.
 On May 15, 1999 at the Feenix Cup in Turku, Finland, again in the 57-kg
division, she again bested Canada's Danielle Bouchard, this time by a
10-1 decision. On May 16, she faced her Norwegian rival Henriette
Birkeland, and won again, this time by a 5-2 score.
At the European Cup for Women held in Köping, Sweden in June 1999, Rauta
lost to Hungary's Zsuzsanna Szuknai in the bronze medal bout.
On December 18, 1999 in the Finals of the Women's Championships
in Uppsala, Sweden, she
defeated Maria Nilsson of BK Falken for the 57-kg title by a second-round
retirement.
Sanna Rauta ended her amateur career with a 36-2 record, after winning five
Swedish championships.
Rauta made her professional debut on December 1, 2000 in Singen, Germany, in a
ten-round bout against former WIBF junior welterweight title challenger Samantha Rein of
Austria. Rauta won by a split decision over Rein despite giving up
a ten-kg weight advantage. (The bout was a "Shooting League" fight that was not
sanctioned by the German Boxing Federation). Rein fell to 0-4-1.
On May 19, 2001 at Top Ten-Sportcenter in Vienna, Austria,
Sanna fought Esther Schouten of the Netherlands for the
vacant WIBF European Super Bantamweight title. Schouten won a hard-fought
unanimous (97-94,97-95,97-95) ten-round decision Rauta made a strong showing
against the Dutch star while falling to 1-1. According to WIBF official Daniel
Van de Wiele, the first five rounds were very evenly fought with Schouten
the aggressor but Rauta countering well. Schouten took charge in the
sixth, seventh and eighth but Rauta rallied in the ninth. The final round
was a barn burner with first Schouten and then Rauta getting the upper hand
in what Van de Wiele describes as "a fantastic and hard fought
fight which was probably the best female fight ever
to be seen (in) a European ring". In his words, "It would have left a lot of
men boxers and people opposed to female boxing red faced if they had witnessed it!
The Rauta team was unhappy with the result as they thought that Sanna deserved
better for her efforts but they took the verdict very sportingly ...
this bout came too early for the inexperienced Rauta and a new fight between
the two in about 12-18 months would probably be a complete other story.
Rauta, still a bit too amateurish, is technically very well schooled and lost,
in my opinion, the fight between rounds six and eight."
On December 10, 2001 at the Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland: Rauta moved to 2-1 as a pro boxer with a
four-round decision over Anna Rodke of Latvia, who fell to 1-1.
Rauta was said to be looking for a contract with Universum Box
Promotion, then the promoter for WIBF champions Regina Halmich,
Daisy Lang, and Michele Aboro, but she retired from boxing. She was unable to box at home, as professional boxing had been
banned in Sweden.
 She
was also a medical student who had her sights set on
becoming a brain researcher.
"There is no research showing that amateur boxing is any more dangerous than ice
hockey or soccer", she
told
Aftonbladet. "With regard to pro boxing, research
shows a greater risk of damage. Unfortunately, some boxers have the role
of punching bags, and that is when the injuries occur. The fights in pro boxing
are often too uneven, and there are so much money at involved, that the fights
becomes too long because the fans want it that way. But that is not going to
happen to me. If I get the chance to make some money, I consider
that a bonus. Boxing is hobby not a job to me."
Other Sanna Rauta links
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Tuesday, 07 November 2006 |
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