Filip Hrgovic vs. Tony Yoka - IBF Eliminator

[JamesPhilips]

BoxRec's amateur records are usually incomplete.

Anyway, here's a summary of Yoka's resume:
• 2016 Olympic gold medallist
• 2015 World championship gold medallist
• Boasts victories in the amateurs against the likes of: Joseph Parker, Joe Joyce (twice), Ivan Dychko, Filip Hrgovic (twice), Mihai Nistor (twice), Frazer Clarke, Magomed Omarov and Jose Larduet
• His victories in the pros over the following fighters surpass every single one of Hrgovic's wins to-date: Johann Duhaupas, Christian Hammer, Alexander Dimitrenko, David Allen, Petar Milas, Joel Djeko, Jonathan Rice and Michael Wallisch

I'm not saying you're wrong about Hrgovic though, because he might surprise many of us to defeat Yoka.

But I just felt you were being a tad harsh on the Frenchman, because I feel he's better than you portray him to be.

And his resume clearly speaks volumes about his proven talent.

Hmmmmm I mean I get it about the boxrec amateur records and his achievements but he has a fair few losses and much worse won / loss percentage than Camarelle 2008, AJ 2012, Jalolov 2020. Yoka has much lower stoppage percentage than Joshua and Jalolov. Yoka’s wins against Hrgovic and Joyce were also dodgy. And Yoka has been Ko’d 3 times including in WSB by a fat Turkish dude.

I just have a feeling his chin will suddenly go and he’ll get flattened spectacularly by someone. He’ll
Become the French David Price. Ok not that bad but even just looking at him his chin is Suspect. Also I haven’t liked him since they robbed Joe Joyce so him and his wife could complete the wife and husband PR story.

Who was the fat turkish dude that koed him?

Ali Eren Demirezen


magomed omarov also stopped him.

Demirizen is the 'new' Sinan Samil San you could say

[gregregegg]

Hmmmmm I mean I get it about the boxrec amateur records and his achievements but he has a fair few losses and much worse won / loss percentage than Camarelle 2008, AJ 2012, Jalolov 2020. Yoka has much lower stoppage percentage than Joshua and Jalolov. Yoka’s wins against Hrgovic and Joyce were also dodgy. And Yoka has been Ko’d 3 times including in WSB by a fat Turkish dude.

I just have a feeling his chin will suddenly go and he’ll get flattened spectacularly by someone. He’ll
Become the French David Price. Ok not that bad but even just looking at him his chin is Suspect. Also I haven’t liked him since they robbed Joe Joyce so him and his wife could complete the wife and husband PR story.

Who was the fat turkish dude that koed him?

Yoka suffered a very premature stoppage defeat to Ali Eren Demirezen in the WSB.

That wasnt premeture. he got a standing 8, and was wobbly as me after 20 cans. It should of been stopped after the first standing 8, he didnt walk to the ref properly at all.

But had that been in the pros they would of either had to wave it strait off, or without a standing 8 yoka would of been standing there looking into the stands and got flatlined (think price vs povetkin)....

[Ruthless-RKO]

Knew it would be too good to be true

[Enlightened-One]

Knew it would be too good to be true

The revenue and purses for Yoka-Hrgovic will inevitably be lacklustre, because neither fighter is commercially popular.

And with Yoka regarded as the B-side, meaning his purse will be less than Hrgovic’s, I doubt they’ll be able to afford paying Bakole to step aside.

I hope some sort of deal can be made with Bakole (i.e. him being guaranteed a shot at the victor of Hrgovic-Yoka).

[Ruthless-RKO]

IBF heavyweight title elimination bout between Tony Yoka and Filip Hrgovic in jeopardy

Promoter Kalle Sauerland announced last week that Tony Yoka accepted an IBF heavyweight title eliminator with Filip Hrgovic, a rematch of the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight semifinal, but the fight is now in jeopardy due to a contract dispute.

Yoka, an Olympic gold medalist, signed to fight Martin Bakole on Jan. 15 in Paris, but the ESPN+ fight was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions in France. Bakole's trainer and manager, Billy Nelson, told ESPN that the contract stipulated that Yoka's French promoter, AllStar Boxing president Jerome Abiteboul, decide in writing if the fight is cancelled or postponed.

Abiteboul wrote that the fight would be rescheduled for March 5 or March 12, whichever date worked best for French network Canal+, according to Nelson.

Subsequent to Sauerland's proclamation, Bakole's legal team sent letters to the IBF, petitioning the organization to rule that Yoka is unavailable to participate in the Hrgovic bout due to its rule prohibiting contracted boxers from taking part in other IBF sanctioned fights.

IBF president Daryl Peoples told ESPN that a ruling was imminent.

Yoka's co-promoter, Top Rank, has been engaged in negotiations with Sauerland for the proposed Hrgovic bout and is taking the lead on the legal battle with the Bakole side.

"All parties are waiting on the IBF to make a ruling as to whether Yoka-Hrgovic can go further," Top Rank spokesperson Evan Korn said.

Nelson told ESPN, "People should honor their contracts, shouldn't they? The IBF rules are very clear: When you sign a contract, you're unavailable to fight in an eliminator. He's trying to start a new life for himself in the U.K. 400,000 Euros goes a long way to helping him and his chances of winning the world title himself."

The contracted payday is four-and-a-half times Bakole's career-best purse, according to Nelson, who lives just yards away from the fighter outside Glasgow in Greengairs, Scotland.

Bakole (17-1, 13 KOs) was splitting time between Scotland and his native Democratic Republic of Congo over the past few years before moving full-time in October.

The brother of cruiserweight titleholder Ilunga Makabu, Bakole has reeled off six consecutive wins since a 10th-round TKO loss to heavyweight contender Michael Hunter in 2018. Most notably, Bakole scored a unanimous decision victory over Sergey Kuzmin in December 2020.

"I think you gotta blame the French promoter purely because we have a contract with them that's still valid," Nelson told ESPN. "I just think it was very unjust and unfair that you can even talk to somebody when you sign the contract."

The prospect of a fight between Yoka and Hrgovic emerged after Luis Ortiz and Joseph Parker both turned down an eliminator against Hrgovic. It's a tantalizing matchup that features two of the best heavyweight prospects in boxing.

Yoka (11-0, 9 KOs) and Hrgovic (14-0, 12 KOs) have both feasted on subpar opposition as they develop into heavyweight contenders, but the talent level of each boxer has never been in doubt. Hrgovic, 28, won a bronze medal for Croatia in that 2016 loss to Yoka, 29. And both men were named on ESPN's list of boxers set to break out in 2022.

Usually a fight between such highly regarded talents comes down the line when there's a heavyweight title on the line. But it appeared the chance to fast track to a championship fight now was too good for either side to pass up.

Now, the fate of the Hrgovic-Yoka fight will be decided by the IBF.

[gregregegg]

woah, bakole was getting 400,000 euro to fight yoka? no wonder he isnt going to give it up without a fight.

[tiny_acres]

This fight isn't happening. I hate all of the alphabet groups but the IBF probably follows their own rules more than the rest of the groups.

[Enlightened-One]

woah, bakole was getting 400,000 euro to fight yoka? no wonder he isnt going to give it up without a fight.

To put that number into perspective, Filip Hrgovic would have only earned a career-high $243K from the most recent IBF heavyweight final eliminator purse bid for the Michael Hunter bout (that fell through).

And if we convert Bakole’s purse for the Yoka bout, from Euros to US dollars, Martin would have earned $454K.

[cormack]

another false start !

lots of talk and no actual fight .
I would have picked yoka to win on points but we aint gonna get it anyway .

[Enlightened-One]

Dan Rafael: "Per source, [the] IBF issued [a] letter to both camps determining Tony Yoka is unavailable for eliminator vs. Filip Hrgovic for the mandatory position."

Joe Joyce is next in line, but is he willing to adhere to the IBF's rules and allow himself to become the B-side, receiving a much smaller purse, than a commercially unpopular fighter like Filip Hrgovic?

Probably not!

End of thread!

[H8Usernames]

Next up they will be giving the fight to Artur Szpilka who will take it and lose and Filip then becomes the mandatory challenger, after a few years the title will then be vacated and Filip will fight who knows maybe Bermane Stiverine for the vacant title and voila we'll have a new great worldchampion.

[joshj909]

Next up would be Joyce, Kabayel, Gassiev, Ruiz Jr, McKean, Zhang, Hughie, Bakole.

I imagine Joyce will pass so Kabayel or Gassiev would be the most likely options.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Next up would be Joyce, Kabayel, Gassiev, Ruiz Jr, McKean, Zhang, Hughie, Bakole.

I imagine Joyce will pass so Kabayel or Gassiev would be the most likely options.

It's always the IBF..

Same thing happened when Kubrat Pulev was the mandatory. The split was horrendous. Pulev had this weird financial backer who was bidding good money as well, but it was the split.

I think 2-3 boxers passed it on, including Ortiz, Whyte. Then Hughie, that man had nothing to lose, final eliminator came around, why not..

Same thing is happening now.

[lof]

I think 2-3 boxers passed it on, including Ortiz, Whyte.

Not Ortiz. Breazeale, Whyte and Miller.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think 2-3 boxers passed it on, including Ortiz, Whyte.

Not Ortiz. Breazeale, Whyte and Miller.

Cheers pal.

[tiny_acres]

Dan Rafael: "Per source, [the] IBF issued [a] letter to both camps determining Tony Yoka is unavailable for eliminator vs. Filip Hrgovic for the mandatory position."

Joe Joyce is next in line, but is he willing to adhere to the IBF's rules and allow himself to become the B-side, receiving a much smaller purse, than a commercially unpopular fighter like Filip Hrgovic?

Probably not!

End of thread!

Not the end of the thread. The thread will end when one of these so called contenders are desperate enough to take the small paycheck

[Enlightened-One]

Dan Rafael: "Per source, [the] IBF issued [a] letter to both camps determining Tony Yoka is unavailable for eliminator vs. Filip Hrgovic for the mandatory position."

Joe Joyce is next in line, but is he willing to adhere to the IBF's rules and allow himself to become the B-side, receiving a much smaller purse, than a commercially unpopular fighter like Filip Hrgovic?

Probably not!

End of thread!

Not the end of the thread. The thread will end when one of these so called contenders are desperate enough to take the small paycheck

To be fair, the topic of this thread is " Filip Hrgovic vs. Tony Yoka". And this fight isn't happening, is it?

It even contains a voting poll asking us who will win this fight, which we now know isn't happening.

What if Zhilei Zhang eventually accepts the challenge? Do we just keep using this thread?

[Bandog]

I'm glad it isn't only Luis Ortiz that is "ducking" Hrgovic. He was even accused of faking an injury.

[Enlightened-One]

I forgot to add, Joe Joyce is currently recovering from a wrist injury. He won’t be able to resume punching again until March.

The media informed us of this injury ten days ago.

So there are two reasons for Joyce to reject the Hrgovic fight: being the B-side and receiving a small purse; and also being out-of-action through injury.

The next fighter in the IBF title-shot queue after Joe Joyce is Agit Kabayel.

[Enlightened-One]

I'm glad it isn't only Luis Ortiz that is "ducking" Hrgovic.

Tony Yoka isn't ducking Filip Hrgovic.

The Frenchman actually accepted the challenge, but the IBF deemed him as being ineligible due to a contractual dispute with Martin Bakole.

Anyway, it seems you've finally come to terms with the fact that Luis Ortiz ducked Filip Hrgovic.

[Bandog]

I'm glad it isn't only Luis Ortiz that is "ducking" Hrgovic.

Tony Yoka isn't ducking Filip Hrgovic.

The Frenchman actually accepted the challenge, but the IBF deemed him as being ineligible due to a contractual dispute with Martin Bakole.

Anyway, it seems you've finally come to terms with the fact that Luis Ortiz ducked Filip Hrgovic.

Is Ortiz the only one that turned it down?

[tiny_acres]

I'm glad it isn't only Luis Ortiz that is "ducking" Hrgovic.

Tony Yoka isn't ducking Filip Hrgovic.

The Frenchman actually accepted the challenge, but the IBF deemed him as being ineligible due to a contractual dispute with Martin Bakole.

Anyway, it seems you've finally come to terms with the fact that Luis Ortiz ducked Filip Hrgovic.

Is Ortiz the only one that turned it down?

Remember EO's supposed facts.... It is only a fact that Ortiz should take a 20% share or it is a duck.
If any other fighter refuses to take 20% it is because it is not fair and definitely not a duck.

Remember Ortiz is bad

[Enlightened-One]

Tony Yoka isn't ducking Filip Hrgovic.

The Frenchman actually accepted the challenge, but the IBF deemed him as being ineligible due to a contractual dispute with Martin Bakole.

Anyway, it seems you've finally come to terms with the fact that Luis Ortiz ducked Filip Hrgovic.

Is Ortiz the only one that turned it down?

Remember EO's supposed facts.... It is only a fact that Ortiz should take a 20% share or it is a duck.
If any other fighter refuses to take 20% it is because it is not fair and definitely not a duck.

Remember Ortiz is bad

Did Ortiz previously claim he’d fight for free?

[margaret thatcher]

luis 'i fight any time, any place, any money!' ortiz lol

[Enlightened-One]

Before Luis Ortiz got exposed for his lowball lies:

‘So look, if you want to fight I’m here and stop saying I priced myself out…

'I’ll fight [Joshua] for just about any money you offer me… I’m here and ready'.

Luis Ortiz has rejected guaranteed opportunities to face Joshua, Whyte, Joyce, Wallin, Ustinov and Hrgovic… usually because he claims he’s being lowballed!