If the name Lia Pukilla doesn't sound familiar to you - or even Israeli - then you aren't alone. The young boxer, only 18, is almost unknown even among aficionados of the sport in Israel, but last October, she made a small piece of national history when she became the first Israeli ever to win a medal in women's boxing at the European Youth Championships in Montenegro.
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Pukilla, who competes in the under 70-kg weight class, won one of two bronze medals given out in boxing competitions, after beating an opponent from Turkey in the quarterfinals and losing to a Ukrainian opponent in the semifinals. This week, she will be back in the ring for the European Under 22 Championships in Croatia, where she hopes to go all the way.
"I am in good shape and I want to win a gold medal," she says. "I have been training very hard and I am sure that all that hard work will pay off and that the championships will be another step on the way to my big dream of participating in the Olympics."
Pukilla was born in Finland, where she still lives. Her father, Yuka, served with the United Nations as a cook and was stationed in Eilat 20 years ago. One night he went out to a club on the boardwalk and met Nurit, a Tel Aviv native, who was vacationing in the southern resort town. The two married and had a family in Helsinki. Lia, who also has Israeli citizenship, is planning to make aliyah after she graduates high school.
Despite living so far away, the family's connection to Israel is strong. Lia and her elder brother brothers Daniel (22) and Jan (20) speak Hebrew with their mother, and English and Finnish with their father. The family celebrates all the Jewish holidays and when they are at friends or hosting Israelis, they make sure to recite the Kiddush on Friday evenings.
A few times a year, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, the family travels to Israel to visit relatives. Before the outbreak of COVID, they held a tour of the country that included Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. They are planning their next visit for the summer when they will attend the wedding of a cousin who lives in Israel new paragraph.
Love of sports runs deep in Pukilla's family. She inherited it from her brothers and her father who used to wrestle for Finland's national team but never managed to realize his Olympic dream. Both brothers trained in karate when they were young, and Leah played several sports, including basketball, soccer, and athletics. But she felt that she wasn't maximizing her potential and looked for another branch of sports.
She found boxing literally right by her house at a boxing club where she trained when she was a young girl. Every time she opened the big iron gate at the entrance and saw the boxing ring and the punch bags, she wanted to join the boxers. When she was 11, she asked the coach, Risto Heinonen, if she could join a lesson. The young girl stood out straight away and quickly racked up achievements including an invite to the national team and six national championships in the various age groups. But just when everything was looking good, national coach Jonny Teuronen asked her to stick to the under 64 kg category, while the talented young boxer wanted to put on weight and compete in the under 70 kg weight class.
After a few unsuccessful attempts in the 64 kg class in the international arena, where she failed to make the Olympic criteria, and a failure in the world championships in April 2021 in Poland, where she lost in the first round, Lia decided to throw in the towel and stop boxing.
For a month she sat at home, frustrated, but the desire to compete burned within her and salvation arrived from Israel. She renewed contacts she had made with people in the sport in Israel during the 2019 European Championships in Romania, where she had boxed for Finland in the summer of 2021. She took advantage of her dual citizenship and joined the Israeli team. The move paid off – big time.
"Since I started boxing I had always dreamed about representing Israel, which I feel is my home," says Pukilla, who insists on the interview being held in Hebrew, which she speaks with a heavy Finnish accent. When she can't find the right word in Hebrew or doesn't understand the question, we switch momentarily to English, but then back to Hebrew, which she calls her mother tongue.
"We speak Hebrew at home all the time," she says. "I visit Israel a lot and the idea of representing Israel was always in my mind. I just had to know how and when to make it happen.
"I did everything I could to make that possible. When I competed for the first time for Israel in an official competition and won a medal I was ecstatic."
Q: You had problems in Finland what happened?
"I started boxing when I was 11 and I was part of the national team for five years. But then a new head coach came in and I had problems with him, and so did the other boxers. He didn't treat us well, and I only got 600 euros a year, which wasn't enough for my needs as an athlete.
"When I beat all the girls in my weight class and wanted to go up a category because I felt strong and full of confidence my coach said that I couldn't without a good reason. His decision hurt my motivation and performance and I felt that I just couldn't go on anymore.
"I understand that you can't have everything you want and the coaches are the ones who decide. I always agreed to compete in a lower weight class and I had to keep to a strict diet, but when I asked for a chance to compete one time at a weight class that was more comfortable for me, they wouldn't agree.
"All of that that made things difficult for me and in the month that I spent at home without boxing, I started to go crazy. I love this sport more than anything and I'm very happy that there were people who knew how to find a solution to help me continue competing and to fulfill my dream of representing Israel."
Even though she represents Israel, Pukilla's life is still centered in Finland. After she graduates from her final year in high school, she intends to pack her bags and make aliyah. To stress just how deeply connected she is to Israel, the word Ahava (love) is tattooed in big Hebrew letters on the left side of her neck.
"I always felt a connection to Israel and I wanted something in Hebrew to symbolize that connection," she explains. "I had the tattoo done not very long ago. When I turned 18, I chose to be tattooed with this very strong word that reflects my connection to Israel.
In the summer of 2021, after getting all the necessary authorization she joined the Israeli national team for the first time. However, because of COVID she only physically met up with the team at the European Championships in October, where she won a bronze medal.
Q: How did the Israeli team welcome you?
"From the start, everybody was really nice and wanted to help. It's easy for us to communicate because I speak Hebrew so they can understand me. I made new friends and after I graduate from school, I believe I will come to live in Israel. That's my dream."
Q: Do you see any difference between boxing in Israel and Finland?
"I haven't trained a lot in Israel. But in Finland, there are a lot of clubs that have enough money to support boxers until they reach a high level and go to the national team. People here like boxing, and Finland is successful in the sport, including at the Olympics. There are good conditions here and boxers get what they need. It's true that I had problems but I think that there are politics and problems everywhere. I'm not the only one who has had to go through that."
Q: In recent years, we have seen quite a bit of antisemitism in Finland and Europe in general. Is that something you have come across?
"There is antisemitism but I personally have never experienced it. I've seen articles in the news about groups of Neo Nazis and there is hatred toward Israel in politics. But my friends know that I'm Jewish and I have never encountered hatred because of that and I hope never to do so."
Q: Do you feel a sense of relief representing Israel?
"Sure. I've been waiting for this moment. It's true that Finland is my home, but professionally I felt that my options were either to resign or represent Israel. Now I can be a hundred percent focused on training, and I feel it's time to turn a new page in life. I'm also very independent and strong-minded. I achieve everything I want in the end."
Q: What do you like most about Israel?
"My mother's family live in Tel Aviv and up north and I like the weather. In Finland right now, it's "only" minus 15 degrees. Israel is a warm country with warm people. I love the food and I love to eat lots of falafel I think Israeli food is really tasty."
Q: Do you realize that your medal was a historic achievement for Israeli boxing?
"I always imagined it, and it's great to be the first one to win a medal for Israel. It's such an important competition. I don't know how that hasn't happened until today; perhaps because boxing in Israel isn't developed enough yet. But now, when people see my achievements I hope and believe that other girls will come and train and will reach a similar level."
Q: Did you see the achievements of Israeli sportsmen and women in the last Olympics?
"Sure. Finland had only two bronze medals in the Tokyo Olympics, in swimming and boxing, and we sat at home and saw all the competitions that the Israelis participated in. It was really exciting to see Artem Dolgopyat and Linoy Ashram win gold medals and to hear the national anthem. And of course to see Avishag Semberg in taekwondo and the judo team win medals. I was really proud to see all the Israelis winning and during the Olympics whenever I when I used to train at the club in Helsinki, people would say to me, 'Israel just won another medal.'"
Q: Are the Olympics your big dream?
"Absolutely. Ever since I started boxing, I said to myself that I want to win Olympic gold and also to win 'small' competitions, like the World Championships and the European Championships. The Olympics is the biggest and most important competition.
"Apart from that, I want to keep on being happy, knowing that I am doing what I love to do, and I hope to continue improving and to get more wins and achievements for Israel."
Q: What do you say to people that have been calling recently for boxing to be removed from the Olympics?
"Women's boxing only started the London Olympics in 2012. I really hope it isn't removed from the Olympics because my goal is the Olympics in Paris and all of my hard work would go to waste. Men's boxing is one of the oldest sports in the Olympics. Including women's boxing in the Olympics strengthens the sport and I hope that it will be an Olympic sport for many years to come."
The man who is responsible for Pukilla representing Israel is David Kogan, who runs the Maccabi Kiryat Gat boxing club. He met Pukilla three years ago when he coached the Israeli team at the European Championships in Romania in 2019. She told him that she is the daughter of an Israeli, that she has an Israeli passport, and that she dreams about making aliyah and representing Israel.
Kogan kept in touch with her and when the opportunity came up to get Pukilla to make the move to the Blue and White team, he didn't hesitate. "First of all, she is a talented boxer who has serious potential to represent Israel at the Paris Olympics in 2024," he says. "She is really serious and you could say the sky's the limit for her."
Lia joined our club in Kiryat Gat last year and I accompanied her at the European Championships. I'm excited about her achievement. Right now she is training with her club in Finland and I follow her from a distance. Lia wants to make aliyah but professionally I would prefer for her to come here for training camps but to continue regular training in Finland where the level of women's boxing is very high."
Q: What's her next goal?
We are beginning to put together a work program for her and her big goals, of course, are the European Under 22 Championships the other 22 European Championships that begin this week and taking part in the Youth Olympics next year.
Q: Can she help promote the sport here?
"Lia can go really far. Including at the highest international level, but financially it's difficult for me to keep her. She won bronze in the European Championships but she's still not getting money from the state.
"To develop an athlete at the highest level costs a lot of money but she can bring the kind of achievements that we have never seen here in, certainly not in women's boxing. Things are difficult without financial backing, but I believe that if we can find her a sponsor, everyone will see just how much potential she has, and she will have the peace and quiet to train for the Olympics."
"As far as boxing goes in general we haven't managed to get people into the Olympics and to get strong results but there has been an improvement in recent years. In the young age groups, we managed to get results, but the army takes all the good people and we also have financial issues. We don't have money, that's the main problem."
When Pukilla walks the frozen streets of Helsinki, with red lipstick, blonde hair down to her thighs, and a fashionable look, it's doubtful whether people realize what she does. But her fragile appearance changes the moment she enters the ring with her protective gear and her blue boxing gloves.
Her daily routine is a tough one. "I start at six in the morning with a warm-up routine," she says. Then I go to school and work as a waitress in a cafe before coming back for an evening workout. It's like that almost every day."
Q: How much has boxing helped you in life?
"A lot. It might sound like a cliche but I am who I am because of boxing. It has helped me grow up, it gives me air to breathe and self-confidence, and it is a way of life that has taught me a lot."
Q: Is there anything you don't like about boxing?
"Losing. When I lose it takes me time to recover. I think about how I could have avoided defeat, but the following day I am back on my feet working hard in training so that it doesn't happen again."
Q: Do you feel that boxing hurt your childhood in any way? For example, your femininity or your social life?
"When it comes to femininity, I feel that even the fact that I have gone up to the 70 kg class hasn't harmed me. At the end of the day, it's just a little more muscle and I am happy with my body. As long as someone is happy and at one with what they are doing, everything is fine.
"When it comes to the social cost, I try to keep up a social life. I have time off at weekends when I see my friends and you have to remember that I see a lot of friends during training as well. Sometimes there are parties that I don't go to and I feel that I'm missing out a little perhaps. But at the end of the day, I know I have a goal that is much bigger than just going out to another party or a bar."
Q: Do you have time for a partner at the moment?
"I don't have a partner at the moment, but I'm single and I do have time."
Q: Talking about friends, don't people come up to you and say 'let's fight.'
"Of course, that's the first response of anybody who hears that I'm a boxer. I laugh and tell them they are better off not taking me on."
Even though boxing has been part of the Olympic Games since the St. Louis Olympics in 1904 (except the Stockholm Olympics in 1912) and despite the fact that Israel has been participating in the Olympics since 1952 in Helsinki, only six boxers have represented the country at the Games.
Yehuda Ben Haim took part in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles in the under 48 kg class, where he finished in ninth place after winning his first-round fight, but in Seoul in 1988, after receiving a bye in the first round, he refused to participate in the next round as his bout fell on Yom Kippur. It was at the Seoul Games that Israel scored its greatest achievement in boxing when Yaakov Shmuel reached the quarterfinals in the under 57 kg class.
Three Israeli boxers have made the podium at the European Championships, all winning bronze medals. Taufiq Basisi in the over 91 kg weight class in 1998; Youssef Abd al-Ghani in the under 91 kg class in 2010 and Pavlo Ischenko in the under 60 kg class in 2017.
Israel's big hope for the future is Manucher Krihali who took silver in the under 92 kg category at the last European Youth Championships, where he competed alongside Pukilla. Krihali beat opponents from Azerbaijan and Belarus in the quarter and semi-finals and lost in the final to a Russian boxer.
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Women's boxing is almost non-existent in Israel. In the 2019 Israeli championships in Nahariya, a total of 54 men and women boxers took part, but in the women's category, there were categories where it was difficult to find two competitors.
Yaakov Wallach, head of the Israel Boxing Association tries to put a positive light on the situation. "We had a few achievements at youth and cadet level. These young boxers will soon make the transition to the adult leagues," he says. "We have some clubs that have proper facilities but in a lot of places we need to upgrade to make the leap to the next level."
Q: Why aren't Israeli boxers reaching the Olympics?
"The International Boxing Association set very tough criteria. For example. Only a restricted number of boxers in each weight class, and then are boxers who have gone professional and can't compete in the Olympics. We will do our best to make sure that in 2024 we see Israeli boxers at the Olympics, but you have to remember that building and maintaining an athlete is a years-long endeavor.
"We are trying to put together a program, but we are in a difficult financial situation. The Israeli Boxing Association doesn't have a sponsor, even though we have received many promises. We don't even have anyone who can help the boxers with traveling to competitions and training camps. When you have to prioritize the little money that we do have, it's a real problem. Because of the situation, many boxers have to do work to make a living, and they just disappear."
