Erkki Pakkanen
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
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| Born | 19 April 1930 Elimäki, Finland | |||||||||||
| Died | 23 April 1973 (aged 43) Kouvola, Finland | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Boxing | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Erkki Olavi Pakkanen (19 April 1930 – 23 April 1973) was an amateur lightweight boxer from Finland who won a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics.
Pakkanen took up boxing in 1947 and won the Finnish junior title in 1949. He never held a senior national title, and qualified for the Helsinki Olympics by winning the Olympic trials. At the Olympics, he lost in a semifinal to the eventual winner Aureliano Bolognesi. Earlier in 1950 he seriously injured his right hand. The injury recurred in 1953 forcing Pakkanen to retire from boxing. He later ran a taxi company that he founded in 1958. Shortly after his 43rd birthday, Pakkanen died of a heart attack at a horse racing track while watching his son Jarmo competing. In 2008 he was inducted into the Finnish Boxing Hall of Fame.