Tony Yoka vs Christan Hammer on tonight b/nation

[cormack]

Well, I didn't think it was that boring at all but my impression still stands that for such a tall bloke Yoka doesn't appear to be very strong, not in comparison to the big boys in the current heavyweight scene: easily manhandled, easily pushed back, pushed down, a kind of lanky floppy guy, and Hammer had decent success landing on him so open to shots too. Hammer is durable we know that (he stood up to David Price's shots who we know, despite his massive chin deficiency, carries serious power) so him standing up to Yoka's shots is not necessarily that much of a black mark, and he was bloodied, but he never looked hurt or in serious trouble at any time. Neither did Yoka, but his lack of strength really seemed apparent here.

He'll need some more tests like this before calling out guys like Joyce who is enormously strong and would probably rag-doll him over 12. You'd have to pick a bull-like pressure fighter like Chisora over him at this stage, and the top 5 would do him over fairly easily based on that performance.

A pro rematch with fellow Olympic rival Filip Hrgovic (who again I think he was 'fortunate' to get the win over- the real final should have been Joyce-Hrgovic in my opinion but Yoka was 2016's Joshua in terms of favourable decisions and being the tournament's Golden Boy) would be the most interesting fight for the frog in my opinion.

Yoka had a ban for not complying with routine drug testing which gave the impression he had something to hide , cant help but wonder if he was on peds earlier in his career and now he cant get away with it and therefore is lacking something .

[margaret thatcher]

Yoka's had that floppy, uncomfortable look dating back a while, it does make you wonder if he wont stand up to heat very well. he's talented enough to get to a decent level before that becomes an issue though