Tony Yoka
Yoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Born
Anthony Victor James Yoka

(1992-04-28) 28 April 1992 (age 31)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
Statistics
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)[1]
Reach208 cm (82 in)[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[2]
Total fights14
Wins11
Wins by KO9
Losses3
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  France
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Super-heavyweight
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Doha Super-heavyweight
European Games
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Baku Super-heavyweight
EU Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Sofia Super-heavyweight
Youth Olympic Games[3]
Gold medal – first place 2010 Singapore Super-heavyweight
Youth World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2010 Baku Super-heavyweight

Anthony Victor James Yoka (born 28 April 1992) is a French professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2015 European Games; and gold at the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympics.

Amateur career

Yoka won the gold medal against future WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in the super heavyweight division at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore.[3] At the 2010 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, he lost the final to Croatia's Filip Hrgović.[4] In 2011 he lost at the European (Senior) Championships to Olympic Champion Roberto Cammarelle.[5] At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships he outpointed Jasem Delavari from Iran but was knocked out by Cuban Erislandy Savón. At the 2012 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament he beat three opponents before getting stopped by Magomed Omarov.[6]

In 2015, Yoka first missed a chance to get the gold at the 2015 European Games but still managed to get the bronze medal.[7] Following this achievement, Yoka won the gold at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships, earning him a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro.[8]

Yoka won the gold over the British boxer Joe Joyce in the super heavyweight division at the 2016 Olympic Games, earning France its first Super Heavyweight gold medal.[9]

Before this fight, Yoka had beaten Hussein Ishaish in the quarter-final, and Filip Hrgović in the semi-final. His amateur record was 60 wins and 12 losses.[10]

Professional career

In 2017 Yoka turned professional. Trained by Virgil Hunter, Yoka fought and beat Travis Clark in his debut fight at Le Palais des Sports in Paris, in June 2017.[11] In October 2017, Yoka defeated Jonathan Rice via unanimous decision 59–56, 60–54, and 58–56.

In July 2018, the French Anti-Doping Agency banned him for one year because of missing three drug tests between July 2016 and July 2017.[12] His appeal against the ruling was rejected by the French Council of State in August 2018.[13]

On 28 September 2019, Yoka faced Michael Wallisch. Yoka dropped Wallisch in the third round and Wallisch barely beat the count, which prompted the referee to wave the fight off and award Yoka the TKO victory.[14]

In his next fight, Yoka faced former world title challenger and veteran countryman Johann Duhaupas. Yoka cruised past his experienced opponent, dropping him twice in the first round, the second time also being the final one from which Duhaupas would not get up.[15]

On 27 November 2020, Yoka faced another veteran in Christian Hammer. Hammer caused Yoka some problems during the fight, but Yoka's win was never at risk, and went on to win the fight via unanimous decision, 100–89 on all three scorecards.[16]

Yoka faced the former IBF International heavyweight titlist Joel Tambwe Djeko for the vacant European Union heavyweight title. The bout was scheduled for March 5, 2021, at the H Arena in Nantes, France.[17] It was broadcast on ESPN+ in the US and Canal+ in France.[18] He won the fight by a late twelfth-round technical knockout. A well place jab forced Djeko to turn his back and stop defending himself, which forced the referee to wave the fight off at the very last second.[19]

Yoka was next set to face the undefeated Croatian heavyweight Petar Milas on September 10, 2021, at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.[20] Yoka was the bigger and more experienced boxer heading into the bout,[21] and accordingly entered as a betting favorite.[22] Yoka's fight was once again broadcast on ESPN+ in the US and Canal+ in France.[23] Yoka won the fight by technical knockout, stopping Milas at the very last second of the seventh round.[24]

Yoka was expected to face Carlos Takam on January 15, 2022, in a fight which was supposed to take place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. Shortly after the bout was scheduled however, Takam withdrew due to injury.[25] On December 10, 2021, it was announced that Martin Bakole would step in as Takam's replacement.[26] The fight was postponed on December 28, 2021, due to measures imposed to combat the spread of COVID-19.[27] Yoka instead chose to enter negotiations to face Filip Hrgović in an IBF title eliminator.[28] The IBF later ruled Yoka ineligible to enter an agreement with any opponent other than Martin Bakole, as the two had already signed contracts to face each other.[29] Yoka's fight with Bakole was rescheduled for May 14.[30] He lost the fight by majority decision, after suffering two knockdowns, in the first and fifth rounds.[31]

Professional boxing record

14 fights 11 wins 3 losses
By knockout 9 0
By decision 2 3
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
14 Loss 11–3 Ryad Merhy SD 10 9 Dec 2023 Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
13 Loss 11–2 Carlos Takam SD 10 11 Mar 2023 Accor Arena, Paris, France
12 Loss 11–1 Martin Bakole MD 10 14 May 2022 Accor Arena, Paris, France
11 Win 11–0 Petar Milas TKO 7 (10), 2:59 10 Sep 2021 Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
10 Win 10–0 Joel Tambwe Djeko TKO 12 (12), 2:59 5 Mar 2021 H Arena, Nantes, France Won vacant European Union heavyweight title
9 Win 9–0 Christian Hammer UD 10 27 Nov 2020 H Arena, Nantes, France
8 Win 8–0 Johann Duhaupas TKO 1 (12), 2:45 25 Sep 2020 La Défense Arena, Paris, France
7 Win 7–0 Michael Wallisch TKO 3 (10), 1:17 28 Sep 2019 Palais des Sports de Beaulieu, Nantes, France
6 Win 6–0 Alexander Dimitrenko TKO 3 (10), 1:27 13 Jul 2019 Azur Arena Antibes, Antibes, France
5 Win 5–0 David Allen TKO 10 (10), 0:43 23 Jun 2018 Palais des Sports, Paris, France
4 Win 4–0 Cyril Léonet TKO 5 (10), 2:21 7 Apr 2018 Palais des Sports, Paris, France
3 Win 3–0 Ali Baghouz TKO 2 (8), 1:04 16 Dec 2017 La Seine Musicale, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
2 Win 2–0 Jonathan Rice UD 6 14 Oct 2017 Zénith Paris, Paris, France
1 Win 1–0 Travis Clark KO 2 (6), 2:01 2 Jun 2017 Palais des Sports, Paris, France

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "BoxRec: Tony Yoka". boxrec.com. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Boxing record for Tony Yoka". BoxRec.
  3. ^ a b "Yog On The Road To London 2012… Talks To Tony Yoka". olympic.org. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  4. ^ Results In 2011, he fought at the World Series of Boxing (WSB). Despite his young age, he won the 2011 edition.
  5. ^ Euro Results
  6. ^ Qualifier
  7. ^ "Jeux Européens: Toni Yoka (+91kg) en bronze".
  8. ^ http://aiba.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/02/Medallist-by-weight-category.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ "French boxer Tony Yoka joins fiancé Estelle Mossely in Olympic glory". rfi.fr. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  10. ^ "VIDEO. JO 2016 : le boxeur français Tony Yoka sur le toit du monde". Franceinfo (in French). 2016-08-21. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  11. ^ "Boxe. VIDÉOS : Tony Yoka remporte son premier combat pro par K.O". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  12. ^ "Olympic boxing champion Yoka banned for one-year by French Anti-Doping Agency". www.insidethegames.biz. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  13. ^ "Tony Yoka's Appeal is Rejected, Doping Ban is Upheld By Judge". BoxingScene.com. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  14. ^ "Tony Yoka Crushes Michael Wallisch in Three Rounds". BoxingScene.com. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  15. ^ "Tony Yoka blasts out Johann Duhaupas with two knockdowns in first round". The Ring. 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  16. ^ Christ, Scott (2020-11-27). "Tony Yoka takes decision over Christian Hammer to stay unbeaten". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  17. ^ Deby, Raphaël. "Joël Tambwe Djeko frappe Tony Yoka avant la pesée !". rtbf.be. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  18. ^ Newswire. "Tony Yoka vs Joel Tambwe Djeko live on ESPN+ in the US from Nantes, France – start time and undercard". fightmag.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  19. ^ Damerell, Richard. "Tony Yoka stops Joel Tambwe Djeko to continue his pursuit of a world heavyweight title fight". skysports.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Tony Yoka vs Petar Milas, Borba desteljeća na centralnom terenu Roland Garros". navijackiradio.com. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  21. ^ Babić, Vedran (10 September 2021). "'Ovo sam čekao cijeli život, ili jesam ili nisam': splitski teškaš Petar Milas večeras u Parizu boksa protiv zlatnog olimpijca iz Rija". slobodnadalmacija.hr. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Tony Yoka v Petar Milas Betting Odds - Winner 12". odds1x2.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  23. ^ Newswire. "Tony Yoka vs Petar Milas live on ESPN+ from Paris, Sept 10". fightmag.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  24. ^ Znaor, Mislav (10 September 2021). "Yoka teškim nokautom ugasio Milasa pa izazvao - Hrgovića". 24sata.hr. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  25. ^ Fight Site (17 November 2021). "Yoka ipak neće boksati protiv Bakolea, dogovorio je meč protiv bivšeg Joshuinog izazivača". fightsite.hr. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Tony Yoka i Martin Bakole boksaju 15. siječnja u Parizu". croring.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  27. ^ Stumberg, Patrick L. (28 December 2021). "Tony Yoka vs Martin Bakole postponed due to COVID restrictions". badlefthook.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  28. ^ Donovan, Jake (13 January 2022). "Tony Yoka Accepts Invitation To Enter Talks For IBF Title Eliminator Versus Filip Hrgovic". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  29. ^ Donovan, Jake (21 January 2022). "IBF Rules Tony Yoka Ineligible For Title Eliminator, New Opponent Sought For Hrgovic". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  30. ^ Donovan, Jake (8 February 2022). "Tony Yoka vs. Martin Bakole Heavyweight Clash Rescheduled For May 14 In Paris". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  31. ^ Farvacque, Simon (15 May 2022). "Première Défaite Pour Tony Yoka Chez Les Pros, Battu Par Martin Bakole". eurosport.fr. Retrieved 15 May 2022.

External links

Olympic boxing champions – men's super heavyweight
World amateur boxing champions – men's super heavyweight
Categories