BoxRec

Tony Yoka is now OUT of his WBA heavyweight title clash against Murat Gassiev due to a back injury

The Ring has learned that alternative opponents are being lined up for Gassiev's return later this month, with Joe Joyce as the most likely option.



https://www.ringmagazine.com/news/joyce ... uwhGzLTpcd

Joyce doesn’t really deserve a title shot after his last few fights.

But heck. Why not.

It’s just over a weeks notice and he was already on the undercard anyway.

Waiting for you to post this.

As just mentioned on Current Scene, I wonder if Yoka was angling for more money, and sees a route to fighting Joyce in UK (rematch of the Olympic Final) for a lot more money.

Or maybe it is just a very unfortunate back injury for Yoka one week out, when it suddenly became a fight for the sole championship of the WBA.

Joyce is pretty shot, though. But given Gassiev's performance against Wallin (and that he was getting outpointed by an ancient Pulev until he stopped him), if Joyce's chin can hold up, this may be winnable

I wouldn't begrudge Joyce at all. He is one of many that should have gotten a full title shot the last few years when actually on top

Finkel wrote: ↑02 Jul 2026, 17:20 Waiting for you to post this.

As just mentioned on Current Scene, I wonder if Yoka was angling for more money, and sees a route to fighting Joyce in UK (rematch of the Olympic Final) for a lot more money.

Or maybe it is just a very unfortunate back injury for Yoka one week out, when it suddenly became a fight for the sole championship of the WBA.

Joyce is pretty shot, though. But given Gassiev's performance against Wallin (and that he was getting outpointed by an ancient Pulev until he stopped him), if Joyce's chin can hold up, this may be winnable

I wouldn't begrudge Joyce at all. He is one of many that should have gotten a full title shot the last few years when actually on top

the problem being is when Joyce was the legitimate top contender was in 2022.
Joyce is 1-4 in the last 4 years.
He does not deserve to fight for the crappy WBA championship

tiny_acres wrote: ↑02 Jul 2026, 18:34

Finkel wrote: ↑02 Jul 2026, 17:20 Waiting for you to post this.

As just mentioned on Current Scene, I wonder if Yoka was angling for more money, and sees a route to fighting Joyce in UK (rematch of the Olympic Final) for a lot more money.

Or maybe it is just a very unfortunate back injury for Yoka one week out, when it suddenly became a fight for the sole championship of the WBA.

Joyce is pretty shot, though. But given Gassiev's performance against Wallin (and that he was getting outpointed by an ancient Pulev until he stopped him), if Joyce's chin can hold up, this may be winnable

I wouldn't begrudge Joyce at all. He is one of many that should have gotten a full title shot the last few years when actually on top

the problem being is when Joyce was the legitimate top contender was in 2022.
Joyce is 1-4 in the last 4 years.
He does not deserve to fight for the crappy WBA championship

Sure, that is fair. At the same time, Gassiev being now the sole champion is also a right place right time situation, and Joyce is scheduled on the undercard, and they are one week out.

Jarrell Miller should probably get the shot instead, but I doubt he would be in any kind of shape to fight for the title on a week's notice. You need something akin to the Joshua v Ruiz and Joshua v Helenius situations, where the guy stepping in had recently fought so was still in competitive shape. Maybe Gassiev's promoters had someone on standby like back when Joshua fought Takkam, but I suspect Joyce is the best option. And again, if say Joyce (or even Zhang) finally get a title shot, even unexpectedly, I won't be too mad.

tiny_acres wrote: ↑02 Jul 2026, 18:34

Finkel wrote: ↑02 Jul 2026, 17:20 Waiting for you to post this.

As just mentioned on Current Scene, I wonder if Yoka was angling for more money, and sees a route to fighting Joyce in UK (rematch of the Olympic Final) for a lot more money.

Or maybe it is just a very unfortunate back injury for Yoka one week out, when it suddenly became a fight for the sole championship of the WBA.

Joyce is pretty shot, though. But given Gassiev's performance against Wallin (and that he was getting outpointed by an ancient Pulev until he stopped him), if Joyce's chin can hold up, this may be winnable

I wouldn't begrudge Joyce at all. He is one of many that should have gotten a full title shot the last few years when actually on top

the problem being is when Joyce was the legitimate top contender was in 2022.
Joyce is 1-4 in the last 4 years.
He does not deserve to fight for the crappy WBA championship

Neither did Gassiev or Pulev. The WBA Regular belt is never on a credible fighter.

Joyce in line to face Gassiev following Yoka injury

Joe Joyce could be handed a shot at Murat Gassiev in Moscow after Tony Yoka withdrew from the fight because of an injury.

Gassiev, who currently holds the WBA’s secondary title, was scheduled to face Frenchman Yoka (15-3, 12 KOs) on July 11 at VTB Arena.

But the show’s IBA Pro organizers are now on the hunt for a new main event opponent after Yoka injured his back during training camp.

There is still a chance that the whole event will be rescheduled, but The Ring has learned that alternative opponents for Gassiev are being evaluated first.

And the most likely option is 40-year-old British heavyweight Joyce, who is already preparing to fight on the undercard. Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs) is currently scheduled to face undefeated Artem Suslenkov (14-0, 9 KOs) in a 10-round fight, but he could be upgraded to the main event. Meanwhile, a new opponent would also be arranged for Suslenkov.

“The Juggernaut” Joyce has not boxed since he lost on points to Filip Hrgovic on April 5 of last year in Manchester. The setback against the Croatian was the fourth in five fights for Joyce, a former interim world heavyweight champion.

But despite his miserable run of form, he could now be handed the chance to revive his career against 32-year-old Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs), who has held the WBA "regular" belt since he stopped Kubrat Pulev on December 12 in Dubai.

There is also a realistic chance that any fight with Gassiev could be for the full WBA heavyweight title given that it was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk last week.

Gassiev is expected to be elevated to full champion imminently, making any fight on July 11 the first defense of his new belt.

Murat Gassiev loses opponent, gets promotion to full WBA champion

Murat Gassiev is the latest beneficiary of Oleksandr Usyk’s vacation spree, but he needs a new dance partner

It’s been an up-and-down day for former cruiserweight champ Murat Gassiev. Early this morning, the IBA, which is slated to host “Iron’s” next fight on July 11th, revealed on Instagram that he’d been upgraded from secondary to full WBA heavyweight titlist after Oleksandr Usyk vacated his remaining belts.

Hours later, news broke that he’ll need a new foe for his inaugural defense, as Tony Yoka is out due to a back injury. Per ESPN and The Ring, Joe Joyce (16-4, 15 KO) is a leading choice of replacement; “The Juggernaut” is currently slated to face Artem Suslenkov on that same show, so that’s the path of least resistance, but it would result in a world title challenger who’s dropped two straight and four of his previous five.

Not that Gassiev’s (33-2, 26 KO) heavyweight championship journey was all that more glamorous. Once a genuine terror at 200, Gassiev’s first real test since falling to Usyk in the WBSS finals saw him drop an uninspiring decision to Otto Wallin in 2023. Subsequent victories over Ken Ljungquist and Jeremiah Milton somehow earned him a crack at 44-year-old WBA “world” champ Kubrat Pulev, who outclassed Gassiev for five rounds before eating a monster hook that put him down for the count.

And now he’s officially a two-division champion.

I like Gassiev vs Joyce better than Gassiev vs Yoka.

Yoka pulling out of the only Title opportunity he could ever maybe win 10 days before the fight is wild.

Joe joyce is scheduled to face Artem Suslenkov on the undercard.
Joyce is not rated by the WBA but guess what...... Sulenkov is rated #10 by the WBA.
Give the title shot to the rated fighter and follow there own rules of only defending against
a top 15 contender. This is what at least makes sense.

If Joe gets the nod he will need three knockdowns, seventeen snookers and eleven tap outs to get his hand raised against a newly anointed Russian champ in Moscow. If it happens, a ref stoppage as soon as Gassiev starts landing a few would be my pick. Not that we in the UK have any moral high ground regarding such chicanery.

Would love it if Joe is back on form and wins. He needs to pump out that relentless jab. Due to size he may be able to do it but this is Moscow so who knows

In an ideal world Joyce stops Gassiev & Wilder stops Usyk & the world gets the mega fight we've all been waiting for.

tiny_acres wrote: ↑03 Jul 2026, 05:57 Joe joyce is scheduled to face Artem Suslenkov on the undercard.
Joyce is not rated by the WBA but guess what...... Sulenkov is rated #10 by the WBA.
Give the title shot to the rated fighter and follow there own rules of only defending against
a top 15 contender. This is what at least makes sense.

Yeah, good point. Even though Sulenkov's record seems a little padded, as you say, he is still actually ranked, and for that reason makes more sense than Joe. I wonder if they would prefer Joe just for name value on the resume rather than actual ranking. But yeah, it should be Sulenkov who gets the opportunity really.

Queensberry hoovering up the belts

"Yes he’ll take it of course, but when did merit go out of the window man "

Is this a sincere question in the year of 2026 ?

Joyce should have received a crack at a world title belt after he bludgeoned Joseph Parker.

There's been a hundred less deserving challengers over the years than Big Joe.

Also factor in that the WBA has zero credibility.

Big fan of Joyce but this is bonkers he’s lost 4 of his last 5 and two on the spin. And a 15 month lay off.

Come on The Mummy run him over!

I don't Joyce's chin is THAT cracked- Zhang is a huge monster puncher and on his best form when he mullered Joe twice. He also should've arguably gotten the nod against Chisora, who beat Otto Wallin pretty clearly, somebody the short-armed Gassiev couldn't get past.

I'd argue Joe gave a decent enough account of himself against Hrgovic when they fought, too. He brought the pressure and the work-rate and Hrg was pretty marked up at the end and seemed glad it was over! And like Joe said, he felt he was getting stitched up a bit with these fights (Hrg and Chisora) being only 10 rounds when he had the fitness to do 12 and would've liked to opportunity to grind them down late.

You also cannot forget the bloke convincingly outmanned and stopped both Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker in his short-lived prime, two fighters we've promoted to top 3 in our rankings over the past couple of years.

How tall is Gassiev? I know he's listed as 6'2 but a lot of shorter heavies are listed that size. Andy Ruiz, Alexander Povetkin, Carlos Takam, Ruslan Chagaev and. more recently, America's latest Great White Hope Richard Torrez. All listed as 6.2 at some point but I wouldn't be surprised if all of them were a shade under 6 foot.

I know Tyson Fury is 6 foot 9 inches.

Danny Williams six foot three……….


Shipping lots of right hands let it be!

It's July.

NEWS: Per source involved, the two front runners to replace injured Tony Yoka against WBA heavyweight titlist Murat Gassiev are German Peter Kadiru and American Brandon Moore. #boxing

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑05 Jul 2026, 06:12 NEWS: Per source involved, the two front runners to replace injured Tony Yoka against WBA heavyweight titlist Murat Gassiev are German Peter Kadiru and American Brandon Moore. #boxing

stay classy, WBA