He is one of Sweden’s greatest boxers of all time.
But life after his career was one big tragedy for Anders “Lillen” Eklund.
He lost his two brothers, his income – and also suffered from serious illnesses.
Anders Eklund had the nickname “Lillen”, and it is easy to guess that it must have been ironic. He was anything but a small play. He was almost two meters tall and weighed around 120 kilograms, and was thus a perfect subject for boxing. But he did not enter the ring for the first time until he was 18.
Won two European Championship titles
He then did his first training in Gävle, and there was no question that something very special had found its way there. Eklund received direct attention in boxing Sweden, and it took only two years before he was allowed to step into the national team, after winning both USM and JSM. In 1980, four years after doing his first training as a boxer, Lillen went to the Olympics, where he was suddenly a medal jumper in the press. But it was only the quarterfinals. However, Lillen did not dig in, and two years later he became a professional.
Lillen Eklund was a hot topic in the Swedish press, and the journalists were constantly after him. It did not get any less in 1985. He then had to go to a match for the European Championship title against Steffen Tangstad. The Norwegian was a big favorite in advance, but it was a Swedish win – and Lillen was suddenly a superstar, partly in Sweden, but above all in the boxing world. After losing the next European Championship title fight against the British Frank Bruno, the chance came for revenge against the Spaniard Alfredo Avengelista, and Lillen took his second European Championship title.
So it went then
The Swede was at the peak of his career, and the money came in as it should. But his career was not straight up. He lost the next European Championship title fight, but got revenge in 1989 when he became American champion. But after being brutally knocked out by Tim Witherspoon, his career began to draw to a close. The last fight came in May 1990 – and he could look back on a career where he won 19 of 25 matches. An incredible result for a Swedish boxer.
It is said that Lillen earned more than five million kronor during the years as a professional, but it was not long before the money was gone. He started carpentry again shortly after putting his gloves on the shelf, but he had diabetes and high cholesterol levels and often had to go on sick leave or unemployed. Lillen did not get his finances together.
He also had problems with a wound on his foot that did not want to heal, and that affected him. Everything also led to him being overweight, which also affected him. And there was also a fear in him.
During the 2000s, his life was fraught with further tragedies. His older brother Roger died in 2002. His father, Sten, passed away in 2004. And only the following year, his younger brother Per passed away. All with the same heart disease.
– A great tragedy. Anders also knew that his heart was a ticking bomb. But he did not know when it would explode, Hans Petter “HP” Burman, musician and friend, told Expressen.
In 2010, after struggling with his severe diabetes and high cholesterol, his heart was no longer strong for Anders “Lillen” Eklund, who died in hospital in Uppsala. He turned 52 years old – and will always be remembered as one of our greatest boxers.
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