Swedish champion boxer Anders Eklund dead at 52

Swedish heavyweight champion boxer Anders Eklund has died at the age of 52. Swedish news agency TT says Eklund died on Thursday but gave no cause of death.

A carpenter by training, Eklund took up boxing in the 1970s. After an unsuccessful Olympics in Moscow in 1980 he began a professional career.

Eklund took his first European heavyweight title in 1985 by beating Norway's Steffen Tangstad. A year later he regained the title by defeating Spanish fighter Alfredo Evangelista.

Eklund, known as ``Lillen'' (Little One) despite standing 6-foot-8 (two-meter) tall, won 19 of 25 pro fights and 57 of 81 amateur bouts.