Anthony Victor James Yoka (born 28 April 1992) is a French

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

title since 2021. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

he represented France at the 2015 World Championships and

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, winning gold medals in the

super-heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding. Boxing In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for t ...

division.

Amateur career

Yoka won the gold medal against future WBO

champion Joseph Parker in the super heavyweight division at the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. At the 2010 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships he lost the final to

Filip Hrgović Filip Hrgović (born 4 June 1992) is a Croatian professional boxer who has held the WBC International title in 2018 and the IBF International title in 2020. As an amateur he won the gold medal at the 2015 European Amateur Boxing Championships a ...

. In 2011 he lost at the European (Senior) Championships to Olympic Champion

Roberto Cammarelle Roberto Cammarelle (born 22 March 1980) is an Italian amateur boxer, best known for winning the World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2007 (Chicago) and 2009 (Milan) as a super heavyweight and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. ...

. At the

2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships was held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 22 to October 10, 2011. The competition ran under the supervision of the world's governing body for amateur ...

he outpointed

Jasem Delavari Jasem Delavari ( fa, جاسم دلاوری, born September 2, 1986 in Ghaemshahr, Iran) is an Iranian amateur boxer who competed in the Super Heavyweight (+91 kg) division at the 2006 Asian Games winning the bronze medal in a lost bout against ...

from Iran but was knocked out by Cuban

Erislandy Savón Erislandy Savón Cotilla (born July 21, 1990) is a Cuban heavyweight amateur boxer. He won the 91 kg/201 lbs title at the 2008 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, the 2009 Pan American Championships at Super Heavyweight and also ...

. At the 2012 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament he beat three opponents before getting stopped by Magomed Omarov. In 2015, Yoka first missed a chance to get the gold at the 2015 European Games but still managed to get the bronze medal. Following this achievement, Yoka won the gold at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships, earning him a spot at the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Yoka won the gold over the British boxer Joe Joyce in the super heavyweight division at the

, earning France its first Super Heavyweight gold medal. Before this fight, Yoka had beaten Hussein Ishaish in the quarter-final, and

in the semi-final. His amateur record was 60 wins and 12 losses.

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 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, in June 2017. 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. His appeal against the ruling was rejected by the French Council of State in August 2018. 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. In his next fight, Yoka faced former world title challenger and veteran countryman

Johann Duhaupas Johann Duhaupas (pronounced yoh-hun doo-uh-paw) (born 5 February 1981) is a French professional boxer who challenged for the WBC heavyweight title in 2015. At regional level he has held multiple heavyweight titles, including the European Union ...

. 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. On 27 November 2020, Yoka faced another veteran in

Christian Hammer Christian Hammer (born Cristian Ciocan) is a Romanian-German professional boxer who held the WBO European heavyweight title three times between 2012 and 2018. Professional career Ciocan's first coach was Felix Păun. Hammer vs. Gregorin He t ...

. 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. 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 Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France. It was broadcast on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in the US and

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

in France. 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. Yoka was next set to face the undefeated Croatian heavyweight Petar Milas on September 10, 2021, at the

Stade Roland Garros Stade Roland Garros (; "Roland Garros Stadium") is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris that hosts the French Open. That tournament, also known as ''Roland Garros'', is a Grand Slam tennis championship played annuall ...

, France. Yoka was the bigger and more experienced boxer heading into the bout, and accordingly entered as a betting favorite. Yoka's fight was once again broadcast on

in the US and

in France. Yoka won the fight by technical knockout, stopping Milas at the very last second of the seventh round. Yoka was expected to face

Carlos Takam Armand Carlos Netsing Takam (born 6 December 1980) is a Cameroonian-born French professional boxer. He has challenged once for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, and IBO heavyweight titles against in 2017. As an amateur, he represented Cameroon a ...

on January 15, 2022, in a fight which was supposed to take place at the

Accor Arena Accor Arena (originally known as Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, and previously as AccorHotels Arena; also known as Bercy in competitions where commercial names are prohibited, such as in the Olympic Games) is an indoor sports arena and concert ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Shortly after the bout was scheduled however, Takam withdrew due to injury. On December 10, 2021, it was announced that Martin Bakole would step in as Takam's replacement. The fight was postponed on December 28, 2021, due to measures imposed to combat the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Yoka instead chose to enter negotiations to face

in an

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

title eliminator. 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. Yoka's fight with Bakole was rescheduled for May 14. He lost the fight by majority decision, after suffering two knockdowns, in the first and fifth rounds.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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archive
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Tony Yoka - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoka, Tony 1992 births Living people French sportspeople of Republic of the Congo descent Boxers from Paris Heavyweight boxers Boxers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of France French male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Boxers at the 2015 European Games Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Games bronze medalists for France Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Games medalists in boxing Youth Olympic gold medalists for France French sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in boxing

Amateur career

Professional career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links