Tony Yoka upset

[gregregegg]

Yoka is like de ja Audley all over again.

I predicted that Yoka would be the next Audley either on this forum or another and was told I was being to hard on the guy.
I still see him as a gatekeeper at best in his future

Dont think he has what it takes to be a gatekeeper, Gotta be gritty to become a chisora type.

Think he will either come back and be a genuine contender, or Knock out has beens in france for a good living, Or retire if its not going his way.

[margaret thatcher]

audley turned pro at the age yoka is now, then spent about 5 years fighting total cans until losing to the first british level opponent he faced (then losing his next fight). yoka's done more in the same period but there are similarities. gold medalists who have some skill but also a lot of fragility, and both lost well before reaching the heights you might expect of a gold medalist

im not sure if audley was obviously vulnerable as an amateur, but people have been calling out yoka's fragility well before he turned pro. didnt think bakole would be the one to show him up like that, but not much of a surprise is it

[margaret thatcher]

who should yoka fight next then? my guess is he might fight someone like wach if big mariusz hasnt reitred . fits the mold of the dimitrenko, duhapuas type -- formerly euro level dude past his best

would carlos takam still be too tough for tony?

[gregregegg]

To jump back in: Otto, Kabayal, Kuzman, Dempsy mckean, Fa, frank sanchez, helenious.... Im pretty confedent he beats all of them easily.

To ease back in: Simon Keen, Wach, Hammer, shwarz,

[joshj909]

who should yoka fight next then? my guess is he might fight someone like wach if big mariusz hasnt reitred . fits the mold of the dimitrenko, duhapuas type -- formerly euro level dude past his best

would carlos takam still be too tough for tony?

Takam would be a good option for him as it might make French fans forget about his quicker by beating the last good France based heavyweight, despite his age.

[Enlightened-One]

I really don’t know what to think about the Yoka upset.

On one hand, I considered Martin Bakole as being excessively overweight and I previously expected him to lose to Yoka (possibly even get stopped).

And my prediction for the outcome of this fight was obviously incorrect – upsets happen.

But then again, some people could reasonably claim that Martin Bakole was an “unbeaten” fighter, even though he technically lost to Michael Hunter, because it was the injury that caused the loss, not the American.

Hunter was hurt towards the end of the seventh round in that fight. And he also looked dishevelled and exhausted during the eighth, until Bakole badly injured his shoulder and wanted pulling-out, despite clearly owning the winning momentum.

Bakole’s trainer, Billy Nelson, was disgraceful and demanded he continue, which resulted in his man taking a beating before eventually being stopped.

Martin Bakole’s profile and reputation took a serious hit due to the Michael Hunter defeat, perhaps resulting in him being underappreciated and flying under the radar, hence the reason why I expected him to lose to Yoka.

But then again, when Tony Yoka accepted the Martin Bakole fight, he was clearly taking a massive step up in class, because he’d previously only engaged in eleven fights.

In the context of the Frenchman only being a prospect, he was being pushed fairly aggressively, because he’d previously beaten fairly decent opposition: Johann Duhaupas, Christian Hammer, Alexander Dimitrenko, Petar Milas, David Allen and Jonathan Rice.

But it was clear that none of them were anywhere near as good as Martin Bakole.

So perhaps it was simply a case of Tony Yoka being pushed excessively aggressively – too much, too soon. He can recover from this.

Put it this way, Tony Yoka and Martin Bakole both suffered losses in their twelfth outings against very decent opposition that were more experienced than themselves in the paid ranks, with the latter now on the cusp of receiving a world title shot.

I am reluctant to be harsh on Yoka, because the vast majority of heavyweight prospects are protected hype jobs that constantly face journeymen, but regardless as to whether you like him or loathe him, we definitely can’t say the same about the Frenchman.

[margaret thatcher]

3rd straight loss for yoka, this time to 2nd rung cruiser ryad merhy. the bakole fight mentally ruined him, so timid in there now

[jwfg]

3rd straight loss for yoka, this time to 2nd rung cruiser ryad merhy. the bakole fight mentally ruined him, so timid in there now

He needs to see a Sports Psychologist. He's got all the tools.

[LeRoiDuRing]

3rd straight loss for yoka, this time to 2nd rung cruiser ryad merhy. the bakole fight mentally ruined him, so timid in there now

He looked like he just wants to get his 15 fights contract with Canal+ to end. The guy got divorced and aged very badly. I don't think he can comeback from it nor he wants too but it really is a shame. Might be one of the worse olympic gold to pro transition in heavyweight boxing history.

What I don't get is he was trying to said he was robbed in the post fight interview " I don't understand, I felt like I controlled most of the fight with my jab". There is nothing left to promote here so he genuinely thinks this type of boxing style and performance is enough to get a win. He really needs to work on himself. The Canal+ propanganda really messed him up badly. He looked severely depressed before during and after the fight. French Boxing legend Tiozzo tried to explain this to him during the post fight interview but he wasn't really trying to understand.

[skanksta]

3rd straight loss for yoka, this time to 2nd rung cruiser ryad merhy. the bakole fight mentally ruined him, so timid in there now

Did you see it ?

I bet Yoka !
Based on the "nappy factor" - I figured there was a lot of size and talent there once he wasn't f*kd mentally he'd SURELY handle a rubbish blown-up cruiser.

[margaret thatcher]

i only caught part of it but what i did see it was the same ssad sulky yoka from his last fight

[SportsRatings]

this is kind of disturbing actually

the HW division needs all the help it can get, we can't have our olympic golds falling so far so fast

[skanksta]

i only caught part of it but what i did see it was the same ssad sulky yoka from his last fight

Sssad not SAAD, sadly.

[Finkel]

this is kind of disturbing actually

the HW division needs all the help it can get, we can't have our olympic golds falling so far so fast

That Olympic gold is under a dark cloud though. The 2016 were so corrupt that the IOC threw AIBA out of Tokyo 202(1).

Yoka served a ban early in his pro career. There were rumours that one of his best wins, the one against Duhaupas, wasn't above board. And his follow-up UD against Hammer was a farse, where he may have lost if he didn't have home officiating advantage against a guy brought in to pad his resume. For me, that performance was a massive red flag as to his real level.

If this is the end of Yoka, after three back-to-back losses, I'm indifferent to it.

Though I wish BoxRec didn't still have him in the top 25

[JxhDel.]

Got really gun-shy and frail after his suspension and especially after the Bakole beat-up

[Noctis5]

There is an error on Boxrec. It's a unanimous decision.

[SportsRatings]

this is kind of disturbing actually

the HW division needs all the help it can get, we can't have our olympic golds falling so far so fast

That Olympic gold is under a dark cloud though. The 2016 were so corrupt that the IOC threw AIBA out of Tokyo 202(1).

Yoka served a ban early in his pro career. There were rumours that one of his best wins, the one against Duhaupas, wasn't above board. And his follow-up UD against Hammer was a farse, where he may have lost if he didn't have home officiating advantage against a guy brought in to pad his resume. For me, that performance was a massive red flag as to his real level.

If this is the end of Yoka, after three back-to-back losses, I'm indifferent to it.

Though I wish BoxRec didn't still have him in the top 25

True, but Yoka won the 2015 amateur gold too. Unless AIBA was just pushing him along at that point, too...he did win a lot of close fights...

You're right that Yoka's drug test ban was a big red flag, he missed a year due to it, but then even odder he went another year without a fight between the Wallisch and Duhapaus bouts. Not something you normally see between a boxer's 7th and 8th pro fights. Seems like his heart wasn't in it even by then, maybe he's had some kind of depression all this time.

[gilgamesh]

this is kind of disturbing actually

the HW division needs all the help it can get, we can't have our olympic golds falling so far so fast

Has Yoka lost twice now as a Pro?

[Cyclops]

I really don’t know what to think about the Yoka upset.

On one hand, I considered Martin Bakole as being excessively overweight and I previously expected him to lose to Yoka (possibly even get stopped).

And my prediction for the outcome of this fight was obviously incorrect – upsets happen.

But then again, some people could reasonably claim that Martin Bakole was an “unbeaten” fighter, even though he technically lost to Michael Hunter, because it was the injury that caused the loss, not the American.

Hunter was hurt towards the end of the seventh round in that fight. And he also looked dishevelled and exhausted during the eighth, until Bakole badly injured his shoulder and wanted pulling-out, despite clearly owning the winning momentum.

Bakole’s trainer, Billy Nelson, was disgraceful and demanded he continue, which resulted in his man taking a beating before eventually being stopped.

Martin Bakole’s profile and reputation took a serious hit due to the Michael Hunter defeat, perhaps resulting in him being underappreciated and flying under the radar, hence the reason why I expected him to lose to Yoka.

But then again, when Tony Yoka accepted the Martin Bakole fight, he was clearly taking a massive step up in class, because he’d previously only engaged in eleven fights.

In the context of the Frenchman only being a prospect, he was being pushed fairly aggressively, because he’d previously beaten fairly decent opposition: Johann Duhaupas, Christian Hammer, Alexander Dimitrenko, Petar Milas, David Allen and Jonathan Rice.

But it was clear that none of them were anywhere near as good as Martin Bakole.

So perhaps it was simply a case of Tony Yoka being pushed excessively aggressively – too much, too soon. He can recover from this.

Put it this way, Tony Yoka and Martin Bakole both suffered losses in their twelfth outings against very decent opposition that were more experienced than themselves in the paid ranks, with the latter now on the cusp of receiving a world title shot.

I am reluctant to be harsh on Yoka, because the vast majority of heavyweight prospects are protected hype jobs that constantly face journeymen, but regardless as to whether you like him or loathe him, we definitely can’t say the same about the Frenchman.

I forgot about this pudendum.

[Cyclops]

this is kind of disturbing actually

the HW division needs all the help it can get, we can't have our olympic golds falling so far so fast

Has Yoka lost twice now as a Pro?

3 times isn't it?

[tiny_acres]

this is kind of disturbing actually

the HW division needs all the help it can get, we can't have our olympic golds falling so far so fast

Has Yoka lost twice now as a Pro?

3 times isn't it?

Yes 3 times all decisions
Bakole LMD 10
Takam LSD 10
Merhy LSD 10

[gilgamesh]

Ouch

[cormack]

yoka without peds isnt worth a light

[Lackeos]

This is a shocking amount of wheels falling off. Reminiscent of how badly Adam Kownacki's career tanked. This dude is turning into the new Fraudley Harrison. Honestly frustrating, as he was, at one point, the intuitive pick to be the next elite heavyweight champion after the passing of the Anthony Joshua age group. Now I guess it's looking like Dubois, Ajagba, Jared, Huni, and Jalolov are in the mix for possibly getting the crown next.

[SportsRatings]

This is a shocking amount of wheels falling off. Reminiscent of how badly Adam Kownacki's career tanked. This dude is turning into the new Fraudley Harrison. Honestly frustrating, as he was, at one point, the intuitive pick to be the next elite heavyweight champion after the passing of the Anthony Joshua age group. Now I guess it's looking like Dubois, Ajagba, Jared, Huni, and Jalolov are in the mix for possibly getting the crown next.

This is much worse than Kownacki, who wasn't a great amateur and didn't really ever seem to be that good or in good shape. Kownacki's career success surpassed the predictions for it, and then he got a dose of reality.

It's a lot more like Harrison. This one seems worse than that, but that could be with hindsight making Audley's failure seem predestined and no big deal. It's hard for me to remember the time between his gold and his disappointing pro career. I wasn't following him very closely, it seems that UK people really were (naturally) and they are always the first to bring him up and slag him lol