Tony Yoka vs. Joel Djeko - March 5, 2021

[Ruthless-RKO]

Tony Yoka vs. Joel Djeko in Play For EU Title, Purse Bid on Jan. 20

Belgian heavyweight Joel Tambwe Djeko (17-2-1) is the new co-challenger for Frenchman Tony Yoka (9-0). Djeko steps in for Croatian Peter Milas, who was set to take on Yoka on February 28 in Nantes.

The EBU has set January 20 as the deadline for purse bids or agreements. Given the financial muscles (271,000 Euro) that Yoka's promoter Ringstar showed in the purse bids for Yoka vs Milas it's likely that Yoka vs Djeko will also end up in Nantes on February 28.

Djeko has fought the bulk of his career as a cruiserweight but did weigh in at about 220-pounds for his last fight which was early 2020 when he knocked out John Cortez in the first. Yoka is ranked # 12 in the EU latest ratings issued by the EBU.

[oogiebe]

Tony needs to step up. It's past time for that.

[bobcatbox]

Not a cool fight. Yoka-Joyce plz.

[joshj909]

Yoka staying busy, hopefully only until he can get a bigger name scheduled.

[Boxtune]

shit fight .... 6'7" tall prospect fighting a 5'9" journey Man. ZERO risk fight

[Ruthless-RKO]

They’ll use the Feb date for this. They’ll win purse bids again..

[golden_labrador]

i can sense the Yoka - Hughie Fury fight coming to punish our eyes in 2021

[margaret thatcher]

shit fight .... 6'7" tall prospect fighting a 5'9" journey Man. ZERO risk fight

LOL

look up joel djeko

he's not an interesting opponent but he aint a shawty !

[gregregegg]

shit fight .... 6'7" tall prospect fighting a 5'9" journey Man. ZERO risk fight

I think your thinking of joey Dawejko... very similar names, Fairly similar level, very different appearance.

[candyslim]

Joe Joyce, Dereck Chisora, Kubrat Pulev, Otto Wallin, Agit Kabayel, Alexandr Povetkin, Filip Hrgovic, Robert Helenius, Guido Vianelo, Carlos Takam, even bloody Marco Huck - just a small selection of eligible opponents the EBU could have nominated who would have been far far preferable to this Djoker.

Let's hear it for the EBU and their continuing mission to reduce the once prestigious European title to the level of a UK area title. Hip hip ...

Is there any international organisation in boxing that aren't a complete and utter bunch of cnuts? Rhetorical question obviously.

[Paci]

The EBU has been pretty irrelevant as an belt for some decades now. Just a stepstone, and away to getting ranked by the WBC is the sellpoint. But other then that it has been neglected by WBC and not being a divider for the world stage rather as candyslim write an arena title.

Also, nobody cares anymore about it since it nowdays is just around to raise the fighters stock and ranking in you, know its owner. Just a nice trinket in other words.

Adding that Djeko looked pretty raw in the fight I saw from 2016. He got sort of robbed against Craig Kennedy. 6-4(96-92) and two knockdowns for Djeko as I scored it. But halfassed scored.

[candyslim]

My love of boxing dates back to the start of the seventies when the European title was regarded as a step up from the British title, and an important waypoint toward world-level. Obviously it was less prestigious than a world-title which is as it should be.

I grant you the start of the decline isn't recent.

[Ruthless-RKO]

This Djeko fought Snijders.

[Ruthless-RKO]

People are getting confused with this belt. It’s not the European belt.

It’s the European Union belt which the EBU recently started handing out.

The rankings are not too different to the EBU rankings.

Joyce is the European champ.

[cormack]

Tony needs to step up. It's past time for that.

all of yokas fights have been of the no risk standard .
until he steps to a top 10 level and takes some risk nobody is going to rate him .

[margaret thatcher]

People are getting confused with this belt. It’s not the European belt.

It’s the European Union belt which the EBU recently started handing out.

The rankings are not too different to the EBU rankings.

Joyce is the European champ.

ya, joyce-dub was a good euro title fight tbf

[bobcatbox]

People are getting confused with this belt. It’s not the European belt.

It’s the European Union belt which the EBU recently started handing out.

The rankings are not too different to the EBU rankings.

Joyce is the European champ.

ya, joyce-dub was a good euro title fight tbf

Joyce-dub was quality stuff.

Reinforcing my belief that this is a trash matchup, and I’m seldom the one to say that.

Yoka-Dub-agit-Joyce would be a fun round robin. Joyce and Dub had the intestinal fortitude to face one another. Let’s see more of it at the Euro level.

[candyslim]

People are getting confused with this belt. It’s not the European belt.

It’s the European Union belt which the EBU recently started handing out.

The rankings are not too different to the EBU rankings.

Joyce is the European champ.

Oh okay that makes sense. So this is the European Union title or whatever TF they call themselves. An alternative European governing body. That's about as useful and desirable as a third buttock.

[margaret thatcher]

it's still from the ebu, same group, it's like a subsidiary title to the full euro belt......i guess like the wba regular champ is the the super champ

[Ruthless-RKO]

it's still from the ebu, same group, it's like a subsidiary title to the full euro belt......i guess like the wba regular champ is the the super champ

Yeh. That’s exactly it. EBU have created the EBU EU belt.

It’s an old belt. Created in 2003.

Otto Wallin vs. Adrian Granat in 2018 was the last time it was defended.

Kabayel has held it also.

[Lackeos]

Obviously they're settling for just anybody in order to keep the date and replace Milas on semi-short notice (two months). But this is probably Tony's worst match-up in terms of wasting time in his whole career. Djeko is the kind of guy that Yoka could've fought back when he was 3-0.

[DrDuke]

What an awful matchup, especially after having an opportunity of decent fight vs Milas.

[candyslim]

it's still from the ebu, same group, it's like a subsidiary title to the full euro belt......i guess like the wba regular champ is the the super champ

Yeh. That’s exactly it. EBU have created the EBU EU belt.

It’s an old belt. Created in 2003.

Otto Wallin vs. Adrian Granat in 2018 was the last time it was defended.

Kabayel has held it also.

Thanks guys for clarifying that.

It is an awful matchup and as Lackeos rightly says, a short-notice date saver. Although not quite up there with Joyce v Dubois, Yoka v Milas was a good pairing of unbeaten prospects and it's a real disappointment.

Yoka lost a year of development by serving a ban in France rather than continuing his career overseas (I think that's right anyway) but when you look at how few fights he's had, the quality of opposition has been very good (as you'd hope bearing in mind his amateur credentials) ... Travis Clark, Jonnie Rice, Ali Beghouz, Cyrille Leonet, Dave Allen, Michael Wallisch, Alexander Dimitrenko, Johann Duhaupas, and Christian Hammer ... an impressive progression in my opinion and one that establishes him on the fringes of world level. I'd put him about 15 in the world.

There are question marks over the quality of his chin but he has skills and mobility and I see him as a welcome addition to replace the old guard ... Ortiz, Pulev, Povetkin over the next couple of years.

[margaret thatcher]

His talent and skills look there. Size too.

But he always gives me this fragile vibe. Saw him stopped multiple times as an am, and then looked rather uncomfortable and a bit sorry for himself at times when Hammer was taking it too him and being rough

[candyslim]

Yeah that's why I see him as a guy who will be among the chasing pack for a number of years rather than leading it.