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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. 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 won a bronze medal at the 2015 European Games; and gold at the 2015 World Championships and

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Amateur career

Yoka won the gold medal against future WBO heavyweight champion

Joseph Parker Joseph Dennis Parker, (born 9 January 1992) is a New Zealand professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Interim championship, interim heavyweight title since 2024. Previously, he held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 ...

in the

Super heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and bodybuilding, 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). Int ...

division at the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. At the

2010 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships The 2010 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships were held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from April 25 to May 3, 2010. It was the second edition of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships which had taken over from the Junior World Championship. The compet ...

, he lost the final to Croatia's Filip Hrgović. In 2011 he lost at the European (Senior) Championships to Olympic Champion

Roberto Cammarelle Roberto Cammarelle (born 30 July 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 from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

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. 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 at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. 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. 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.

Professional career

In 2017, Yoka turned

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

. 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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 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. 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. 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 5 March 2021, at the H Arena in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, France. It was broadcast on

ESPN+ ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communicati ...

in the US and Canal+ 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 10 September 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), major tennis championship pla ...

in Paris, 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 ESPN+ in the US and Canal+ 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 on 15 January 2022, in a fight which was supposed to take place at the

Accor Arena Accor Arena (originally known as the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy), also known as Bercy Arena, is an indoor sports arena and List of concert halls, concert hall in the neighbourhood of Bercy, on the Boulevard de Bercy, in the 12th arrondisse ...

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

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Yoka instead chose to enter negotiations to face Filip Hrgović in an IBF 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 14 May 2022. 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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Tony Yoka - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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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 for 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 Black French sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen

Amateur career

Professional career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links