Anders Eklund

Anders Eklund (22 December 1957 – 1 April 2010) was a Swedish boxer. He was nicknamed Lillen (Swedish: "Tiny"), but later chose the nickname "Viking".

Eklund was born in Gävle. He competed in the Heavyweight division (91 kg) at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, where he was defeated in the quarter finals. He made his pro debut on October 7, 1982 in Copenhagen. Eklund won the European (EBU) Heavyweight Title on March 9, 1985 by beating Steffen Tangstad, but lost the belt in his next fight, against Britain's Frank Bruno. He regained the title in 1987 against the Spaniard Alfredo Evangelista but lost it the same year against the Italian Francesco Damiani.

The magazine Boxing Illustrated named Eklund "A solid 10 round winning fighter" in a ranking in the early 1990s where he was deemed among the top 20. Eklund died of a heart attack on 1 April 2010, following a collapse at his Uppsala apartment. He was 52 years old.

Professional boxing record

19 Wins (10 knockouts, 9 decisions), 5 Losses (4 knockouts, 1 decision), 1 Draw
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	19-5-1	Garing Lane	UD	6	17/05/1990	Nordjysk Messecenter, Aars	60-54, 60-54, 60-55.
Loss	18-5-1	Tim Witherspoon	KO	1	19/10/1989	Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey	Eklund knocked out at 1:11 of the first round.
Win	18-4-1	Philipp Brown	UD	12	16/03/1989	Harrah's, Reno, Nevada	WBA Americas Heavyweight Title. 116-112, 115-112, 114-113.
Win	17-4-1	Rick Kellar	KO	3	12/12/1988	Helsinki Ice Hall, Helsinki	Kellar knocked out at 2:38 of the third round.
Loss	16-4-1	Francesco Damiani	KO	6	09/10/1987	Aosta, Aosta Valley	EBU Heavyweight Title. Eklund knocked out at 2:40 of the sixth round.
Win	16-3-1	Alfredo Evangelista	KO	7	28/03/1987	K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win	15-3-1	Stefano Vassallo	UD	8	27/02/1987	Randers Hallen, Randers
Win	14-3-1	Jesse Ferguson	PTS	8	17/10/1986	Randers Hallen, Randers
Win	13-3-1	Tony Foster	KO	2	03/10/1986	Idraetshuset, Copenhagen	Foster knocked out at 2:56 of the second round.
Win	12-3-1	Glenn McCrory	UD	8	18/04/1986	Randers Hallen, Randers	79-75, 79-75, 79-74.
Loss	11-3-1	Frank Bruno	KO	4	01/10/1985	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London	EBU Heavyweight Title. Eklund knocked out at 0:20 of the fourth round.
Win	11-2-1	Steffen Tangstad	TKO	4	09/03/1985	Copenhagen	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win	10-2-1	Dorcey Gaymon	KO	8	09/11/1984	Copenhagen
Win	9-2-1	Rudy Gauwe	TKO	6	27/10/1984	Mariehamn
Win	8-2-1	Rocky Burton	KO	1	05/10/1984	Randers Hallen, Randers	Burton knocked out at 1:00 of the first round.
Loss	7-2-1	Joe Bugner	MD	10	13/01/1984	Randers Hallen, Randers	95-98, 93-98, 97-97.
Win	7-1-1	Steve Gee	TKO	5	17/12/1983	Hotel Arkipelag, Mariehamn	Referee stopped the bout at 1:47 of the fifth round.
Loss	6-1-1	Noel Quarless	TKO	1	13/10/1983	Crest Hotel, Bloomsbury, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:10 of the first round.
Draw	6-0-1	Guido Trane	PTS	6	06/10/1983	K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen
Win	6-0	Paddy Finn	KO	1	14/09/1983	Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, London, England	Finn knocked out at 2:52 of the first round.
Win	5-0	Felipe "Pantera de Arosa" Rodriguez	PTS	6	08/04/1983	K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen
Win	4-0	Terry O'Connor	PTS	4	11/02/1983	K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen
Win	3-0	Ricky James	KO	3	02/12/1982	Randers Hallen, Randers	James knocked out at 1:43 of the third round.
Win	2-0	Theo Josephs	PTS	4	05/11/1982	K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen
Win	1-0	Damien Marignan	PTS	4	07/10/1982	K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen

Sources

• Anders Eklund's obituary at Aftonbladet (in Swedish)