Tony Yoka - how far can he go?

[Stanny Onis]

Wasn't impressed at all last night. European title I think is his limit.

[Ruthless-RKO]

World title.

[gilgamesh]

If they ever want him to fight for a World Title they'll just have to jump him up there before he's ready and hope his credentials as an Olympian will sell the fight.

If he tries to actually earn his way there by beating contenders. He'll never make it. He'll get knocked out before he reaches the Top 10.

[Enlightened-One]

In heavyweight terms, Tony Yoka is very young and had a bad day at the office against a notoriously awkward and sturdy opponent. We haven't seen the best of him yet.

Even the likes of Mike Tyson (against Tillis), Lennox Lewis (Billups) and Wladimir Klitschko (Martin) experienced those sort of nights when they were prospects facing journeymen.

It's far too early to write off Tony Yoka just yet!

I’m convinced that he’ll (at the very least) be making a world title challenge sometime around 2023. And by that time, a lot of today's biggest names would hve retired.

[joshj909]

World title challenger and top 10 ranked for 5+ years.

He has some improving to do if he wants to win a title but he has a few years to do that. I probably couldn't count 5, let alone 10 heavies under the age of 30 that look better than him or are more accomplished so far.

[Stanny Onis]

World title.

Really. You were impressed last night? I thought he looked really poor, and he had a bad chin in the amateurs, so I can't see him doing anything at world level.

[Ruthless-RKO]

World title.

Really. You were impressed last night? I thought he looked really poor, and he had a bad chin in the amateurs, so I can't see him doing anything at world level.

Nothing to do with last night.. I just think he’ll win a world title..

Opponents don’t always make you look good. But he didn’t help last night either.

[Stanny Onis]

. I probably couldn't count 5, let alone 10 heavies under the age of 30 that look better than him or are more accomplished so far.

Hmm I think there's at least 5 cause there's ..... Hrgovic, Gassiev, Dubois, Vykhryst, Jalolov, Dychko, Sirenko, Huni, Parker, H Fury,Anderson, Conto, Milas, Kadiru

[joshj909]

. I probably couldn't count 5, let alone 10 heavies under the age of 30 that look better than him or are more accomplished so far.

Hmm I think there's at least 5 cause there's ..... Hrgovic, Gassiev, Dubois, Vykhryst, Jalolov, Dychko, Sirenko, Huni, Parker, H Fury,Anderson, Conto, Milas, Kadiru

I'd disagree on about half of them. Hughie and Sirenko for example don't look better and are not more accomplished so far. Others are unknown quantities at HW or as a pro such as Gassiev or Dychko. Then Huni is only 1-0 with a long way to go. Can't speak in Vykhryst and Conto as I've never watched them

[Enlightened-One]

. I probably couldn't count 5, let alone 10 heavies under the age of 30 that look better than him or are more accomplished so far.

Hmm I think there's at least 5 cause there's ..... Hrgovic, Gassiev, Dubois, Vykhryst, Jalolov, Dychko, Sirenko, Huni, Parker, H Fury,Anderson, Conto, Milas, Kadiru

I'd disagree on about half of them. Hughie... for example don't look better and are not more accomplished so far.

To be fair to Hughie, he’s 2½ years younger than Yoka, but when he was only 24 years of age, he’d already challenged for the WBO world heavyweight title and engaged in highly competitive bouts against the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev and Joseph Parker (two world champions and one two-time title challenger).

And according to ESPN and The RING, all three of those guys are still classed as top-ten world-rated heavyweights.

To put this into context, Anthony Joshua didn’t turn pro until a few days prior to his 24th birthday. Deontay Wilder was about the same age as AJ when he made his pro debut. And let’s not forget that both of these men lost several times in the unpaid ranks. So I feel it’s perfectly normal for most fighters to suffer defeats early in their careers, due to a combination of youth and inexperience.

I feel that most of today’s unbeaten and allegedly “fearsome” heavyweight prospects, if they’d been pushed as quickly and aggressively as Hughie has, would have suffered losses.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to support fighters that aren’t scared of losing their zeros, due to their desire to always face the best available opposition.

Too many mainstream casuals write-off fighters as soon as they suffer a loss.

[joshj909]

Hmm I think there's at least 5 cause there's ..... Hrgovic, Gassiev, Dubois, Vykhryst, Jalolov, Dychko, Sirenko, Huni, Parker, H Fury,Anderson, Conto, Milas, Kadiru

I'd disagree on about half of them. Hughie... for example don't look better and are not more accomplished so far.

To be fair to Hughie, he’s 2½ years younger than Yoka, but when he was only 24 years of age, he’d already challenged for the WBO world heavyweight title and engaged in highly competitive bouts against the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev and Joseph Parker (two world champions and one two-time title challenger).

And according to ESPN and The RING, all three of those guys are still classed as top-ten world-rated heavyweights.

To put this into context, Anthony Joshua didn’t turn pro until a few days prior to his 24th birthday. Deontay Wilder was about the same age as AJ when he made his pro debut. And let’s not forget that both of these men lost several times in the unpaid ranks. So I feel it’s perfectly normal for most fighters to suffer defeats early in their careers, due to a combination of youth and inexperience.

I feel that most of today’s unbeaten and allegedly “fearsome” heavyweight prospects, if they’d been pushed as quickly and aggressively as Hughie has, would have suffered losses.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to support fighters that aren’t scared of losing their zeros, due to their desire to always face the best available opposition.

Too many mainstream casuals write-off fighters as soon as they suffer a loss.

I agree with you in preferring fighters who are not scared of losing their 0. With regards to Hughie's performances, yes he deserves credit for taking the high level opponents and he wasn't absolutely blown away or demolished but I don't think they were the most competitive. Its worth noting that Cojanu was the WBO defence before him so achieving the shot isn't worth much recognition. At a high level he's a pretty much a spoiler that was unable to spoil. He wasn't blown away but it's not always easy to do that against super defensive fighters.

In the future he could definitely be in with a chance against the new wave of heavyweights but I'm yet to see anything in his performances or victories that tells me he would be the favourite to beat them. He needs to face a few European level opponents to really gauge his level. He does have time to do that, working with a different trainer is unlikely but probably needed for him to develop significantly.

[DrDuke]

Yesterday night he sucked. Anyway, he won clearly, Hammer was absolutely awful. But Yoka can improve. Actually he probably can handle the likes of Chisora even now. Maybe he'll get a shot one day.

[cormack]

top rank will make sure he gets a shot at the title in due course , maybe if Usyk gets a belt ?

Fury and Aj would beat him easily , I think Usyk would too actually .

he fights again for the european in month or so

[oogiebe]

Never too up on Yoka. Vs Hammer, no one looks good. What bothered me was Yoka had nothing to 'try.' He never changed up his approach and didn't have anything in his arsenal to even try. He'll get a title shot one day but I assure everyone he'll never be a mandatory title contender. Bottom 10 maybe.

[pound per pound]

. I probably couldn't count 5, let alone 10 heavies under the age of 30 that look better than him or are more accomplished so far.

Hmm I think there's at least 5 cause there's ..... Hrgovic, Gassiev, Dubois, Vykhryst, Jalolov, Dychko, Sirenko, Huni, Parker, H Fury,Anderson, Conto, Milas, Kadiru

Good post. There are quite a few up and coming heavyweights with good talent. About half the men you listed have a better future than Yoka does.

Yoka's limit is to 15. Can't see him beating anyone better than that.

[goose 5]

I wouldn't be surprised if he's moved into a world title shot at some point- but he's not a future champ, imo- not by a longshot. 12-18 months from now, he could beat a Takam or a Chisora.

[bobcatbox]

. I probably couldn't count 5, let alone 10 heavies under the age of 30 that look better than him or are more accomplished so far.

Hmm I think there's at least 5 cause there's ..... Hrgovic, Gassiev, Dubois, Vykhryst, Jalolov, Dychko, Sirenko, Huni, Parker, H Fury,Anderson, Conto, Milas, Kadiru

Good post. There are quite a few up and coming heavyweights with good talent. About half the men you listed have a better future than Yoka does.

Yoka's limit is to 15. Can't see him beating anyone better than that.

You still feel the same about Dub after tonight? Can’t say I agree on half of those. Do agree on Andersen and Hrg.

[bobcatbox]

I find it interesting that Yoka’s only faced competition with a winning record. Hammer is no easy task in your ninth fight. He wallowed the inexperienced fighter but overall Yoka looked pretty good. Solid jab. Proved he can go ten rounds with a real pro.

[margaret thatcher]

Would Yoka beat Joyce if they fought next?

[oogiebe]

Yoka sustained a hand fracture in his fight vs Hammer. I have to admit that this news makes me reassess him. He'll be out of action for the next month or so at the least.

[margaret thatcher]

unless he's one of these guys who gets injured every fight, then it's just part of his make up

[oogiebe]

unless he's one of these guys who gets injured every fight, then it's just part of his make up

If that were the case I reassess him as too brittle to be a top fighter. I'm still not overly impressed, but maybe he's not exactly 'crap.'

[DrDuke]

Would Yoka beat Joyce if they fought next?

No.