Tony Yoka vs. Joel Djeko - March 5, 2021

[oogiebe]

Yoka fight in roughly an hour. (currently 3:38 PM EST)

[diddy]

Yoka is seemingly going backwards in opposition. From Duhuapas and Hammer to now he’s fighting a blown up cruiser? A guy who isnt “washed” like them but also a guy who doesn’t hit hard enough to hurt him. Not sure what the plan is here. We won’t learn a thing today.

[bobcatbox]

Yoka should’ve knocked this guy out by now. Looks like he’s finally trying to do it.

Really liked the work with the lead hand by Yoka, and when he occasionally throws a combo it looks good. He should throw more. Can’t say he has one punch KO power. Either that or Djeko’s chin is rock solid. Because Yoka knocked him back with multiple good right hands and didn’t once buzz him. I think it’s probably the former.

Some holes are evident in Yoka’s defense. He tries to block too many punches, and does not move his head enough. Often leaves himself wide open when he throws a fight hand.

[oogiebe]

In round 9. Absolute bore fest. Yoka not going anywhere IMHO. Never thought so and still don't.

[bobcatbox]

Yoka could’ve done that six rounds ago. Don’t like the attitude after he stops a guy who is extremely inferior to him. Didn’t even get a knockdown.

Im just not a Yoka fan.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wow, so Yoka’s wife is fighting in the co main event? Interesting.

Tony Yoka and Estelle Yoka-Mossely are boxing's power couple chasing Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor

The husband and wife duo are hand-in-hand chasing the world championships held by Katie Taylor and Anthony Joshua and are also developing a powerful voice outside of the ring

Four years on from Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor's Olympic gold heroics, their places were taken by a loved-up couple who fight side-by-side and are now in pursuit of their predecessors.

Tony Yoka and Estelle Yoka-Mossely won gold at Rio 2016 in the same divisions that Joshua and Taylor once dominated - and they have evolved into emerging threats for the world titles that Joshua and Taylor now hold.

It is a traditional love story. Yoka and Yoka-Mossely were a feelgood moment at the last Olympics but have since encountered hurdles which they have overcome. For all her husband's KO power, Yoka-Mossely may have even more power with her voice outside of the ring.

On Friday night in Nantes, the French husband and wife duo will each step back into the ring looking to edge their unbeaten careers closer to the pinnacle that Joshua and Taylor sit on.

Yoka-Mossely fights Verena Kaiser for a minor title in the lightweight division that Taylor rules as undisputed champion. Yoka, in the main event of the same card, continues his heavyweight rise in an EBU European title fight against Joel Tambwe Djeko.

They have diligently prepared together, a united front in a sport that can be cruelly individual.

Yoka and Yoka-Mossely have spent six weeks training in California without their two children, Ali (named after you-know-who) and Magomed.



Yoka-Mossely's insight to 20 Minutes in France is a rarely-considered part of a female boxer's sacrifices: "This is the first time that I left the children.

"I found it beneficial to isolate myself as a sportswoman, but it's not easy, and it's easy for anyone not to see their children for that long anyway. Afterwards, these are not unnecessary sacrifices. I trained without asking myself any questions, telling myself that the faster the time passed, the faster I would come back to see them.

"[We are a] family that is organised around high-level sport, but I remain a mother like any other, attentive to the educational needs, to the demands of my children."

At just 28, Yoka-Mossely is a young mother who has already achieved so much inside the ring, peaking with becoming France's first Olympic gold medal-winning boxer. That moment was heart-warmingly achieved with her then-fiance roaring her on from the sidelines.

She has become a powerful voice for equality and runs an association for high-level sportswomen which provides maternity support with their pregnancies, deals with subjects that are difficult to speak to men about, and offers retraining to help females enter sporting governing bodies.

Asked by 20 Minutes about the sexual abuse scandal in French figure skating, Yoka-Mossely said: "Honestly, women don't speak because they don't want to lose their place. They have often made so many sacrifices to get there. Denouncing these things becomes something secondary for them."

Weird headline. Firstly Yoka’s are married of course.
Joshua and Taylor not going out even.... and if rumours are to be believed Taylor and AJ are allegedly both gay

Sky will put up any bullshït..

I think they mean as in 2 Gold Medalists .. one mate and one female.

[goose 5]

How was the undercard ?

[oogiebe]

How was the undercard ?

The four rounder was the best fight on the card Esabe vs Kartoum.

[bobcatbox]

Yoka could’ve done that six rounds ago. Don’t like the attitude after he stops a guy who is extremely inferior to him. Didn’t even get a knockdown.

Im just not a Yoka fan.

yoka will get chinned heavily is my prediction

I think so. Never like to root for a guy to get knocked out, but I see Yoka getting knocked out by Joshua or Fury if he makes it to a title fight. Wilder would drop him. He’d get smoked by Pov too.

[DrDuke]

Yoka must fight the likes of Rivas, Breazeale, Chisora, Kabayel next.

[N2 Shape]

Maybe Winner of Parker/Chisora next

[candyslim]

A dull laboured performance by Yoka. Very distasteful his triumphal reaction to his stopping a big underdog. If his target is Joshua I'd say "Be very careful what you wish for", on the evidence of what I've just watched, Joshua would have him for petit-dejeuner.

[margaret thatcher]

big j gave him some beef ahead of the fight, maybe thats why

[cormack]

he isnt a top contender and this performance doesnt look good against a limited level fighter.

Typical french - puff and bluster without much substance !

he gets battered by :
fury / aj / whyte / joyce / usyk

him and his team are just trying to con their way to a few big money fights , all this talk of being the world champ LOL

[bobcatbox]

he gets battered by :
fury / aj / whyte / joyce / usyk

Stylistically Joyce and Whyte may be a halfway decent fight for him, but I would favor those guys as well. Didn’t even think about Usyk. Yoka doesn’t want any of that smoke.

You think he could take Dub? That’s a pretty even fight.

[KiwiRider]

How was the undercard ?

The four rounder was the best fight on the card Esabe vs Kartoum.

Yeah, I enjoyed that one.

[KiwiRider]

I understand Yoka was a very good amateur fighter.
As a professional, I really can't see anything there that will propel him much further.
The commentary I had to endure kept going on about how he was being trained in the Andre Ward style
No one wants to see that again.
Yoka just doesn't have the power to concern any of the top guys. The fact he is a bit chinny makes his ride through the division even more tentative.
Maybe if he had the work rate of a Kownacki or a Ruiz, but trying to fight like Ward without the chin is a KO waiting to happen, not to mention how boring that style is.
Can't wait to see him startched, only hope I don't have to pay for the privilege

[cormack]

he gets battered by :
fury / aj / whyte / joyce / usyk

Stylistically Joyce and Whyte may be a halfway decent fight for him, but I would favor those guys as well. Didn’t even think about Usyk. Yoka doesn’t want any of that smoke.

You think he could take Dub? That’s a pretty even fight.

right now he probably beats dubois , maybe a after a couple of build back up fights ddd gets his act together and I think would catch yoka who is susceptible to left hooks .

[DrDuke]

It's tough to rate Yoka now. It'll be possible, when he faces threatening fighters. His laborings with journeymen and faded fringes don't tell much. I think, he'll be around top-15, but I don't see him as a champ.

[morm]

DDD next , yeah i love to watch this one

[candyslim]

@DrDuke:

I agree. I had him about 15 in the world prior to this fight, having had some wins over respectable opposition (for the number of fights he'd had and the fact he sat out a year's ban). I thought he was lacking the power and physicality to become a world champion (belt holder) but I saw him as a perennial contender.

On that performance I might need to adjust my expectations. I haven't written him off just yet but that performance was deeply unimpressive.

He should fight Carlos Takam. They are fellow countrymen. Takam is post prime but a good name on the record and should give Yoka a decent test without being over-ambituous (mind you, I thought much the same about Johann Duhaupas but he'd left it too late).

[Lackeos]

Man, weird amounts of negativity in this thread. I guess everyone in boxrec hates French fighters.

Yoka is 28 years old, ranked #13 by boxrec, has an Olympic gold medal; and he's professionally beaten Djeko, Hammer, Duhaupas, Wallisch, Dimitrenko, and Allen. First of all, that's not a terrible string of professional wins for anyone who isn't a champion. So I guess y'all are just super mad that he's a gold medalist, because you wouldn't be acting like this if he was just a random #13-rated contender without a belt.

Second, these comments seem to be demanding that he fight a top 10 opponent in his very next fight, and suggesting that he would lose to a top 5 opponent. Okay, so what about a #13-ranked contender do you not understand? He's supposed to be an underdog to the divisional elite right now, and he wouldn't be expected to fight a top 10 opponent in his very next fight. Given that his best opponents were Duhaupas and Wallisch, it would be sufficient if he just fought a top 20 opponent next, like Helenius, Martin, Hughie, or Bakole; and then stepped-up to top 10 only if he won that fight convincingly, otherwise he should stay at the same level until he improves.

Third, y'all are neglecting to notice the frequency of his fighting. He fought Duhaupas, Hammer, and Djeko all in a less than 6 months span. If he was fighting this level of opposition once a year, then that's a somewhat sign. If he's fighting this level of opponent once every three months, then he's on a fairly fast track to the top. By comparison, Whyte has fought once in 16 months, Hunter has fought once in 15 months (against SHAWN LAUGHERY), Andy Ruiz hasn't fought anybody in 15 months, and Luis Ortiz has only fought once in 15 months (against ALEXANDER FLORES). Are you starting to realize what a ridiculous standard you're holding Yoka to? Because typical contenders aren't treated like this. Before the great Tyson Fury captured a title, he just beat Hammer, Chisora, and Abell in a span of 21 months. In the 15 months before Wilder captured a world title, he fought Jason Gavern, Malik Scott, and Nicolai Firtha (and then he only had to beat Stiverne to get the belt). Is Yoka's competition really worse than Joey Abell, Nicolai Firtha, and Jason Gavern? Seriously, act like you know something about boxing history and what is a normal standard of competition for a contender.

[candyslim]

What a load of absolute bollocks. A fighter's nationality, colour, religion makes as much difference to me personally as his favourite flavour of crisps, or his effin' blood type (I guess in the interests of total honesty I should admit to generally rooting for my compatriots, but beyond that I don't care if they hail from Proxima Centauri) and I'm sure most of us feel the same.

I have posted several times on here how impressive is Yoka's record taken in relation to how few fights he's had. There again as an Olympic champion who is on record as saying that he doesn't want to take 4 years to get to the top like Joshua, he can hardly complain if he's held to those standards. For the record I don't think he deserved the Olympic gold, in fact I don't think he deserved the silver either, because the verdict over Joyce in the final was in my opinion a gift but less of a gift than his semi-final verdict over Hrgovic. I tell it how I see it.

The facts are that Yoka (and Hrgovic too) needs to start putting in performances and fighting opposition befitting a top 20 contender with ambitions to win world titles.

[bobcatbox]

Man, weird amounts of negativity in this thread. I guess everyone in boxrec hates French fighters.

I have no hate for the French my man. It’s all love. Personally never been but me and the misses are putting Paris very high on the vacation list.

Although admittedly I can’t think of a single French fighter I fancy, but if there was a good one I liked, I’d be all in on ‘em. Just being honest about Yoka as a fighter. In my opinion he lacks power and defense. He consistently drops the left hand when throwing a right, something you would not expect from an Olympic gold medalist. It’s even worse since his right hand lacks the power to put away top ten level talent. He’s got a ways to go.

Given that his best opponents were Duhaupas and Wallisch, it would be sufficient if he just fought a top 20 opponent next, like Helenius, Martin, Hughie, or Bakole; and then stepped-up to top 10 only if he won that fight convincingly, otherwise he should stay at the same level until he improves.

This I don’t disagree with. Hughie would be a lame fight. A lot of slapping about, dancing, and air jabs. Martin is a nice step up for him. Helenius would be a real challenge. He could drop the hammer and let Yoka experience the Nordic Nightmare!

[margaret thatcher]

man, it's disgusting, yall are just hating on tony cuz he's french/olympic champ/taller than you/black/got a tough wife

man, sickening

man is 29 next month and already #13 with boxrec



btw lacky my man, what do you actually think of tonster's performances, aside from just browsing his boxrec page? you do make some fair points and it may be that people cant move past him getting stopped a few times in the ams, but i think ppl are more critical on the content of his actual pro performances and stuff like looking as bothered as he was vs hammer, then they are on how nice his boxrec stats are