Tony Yoka wins in Paris: Career restart after setbacks – Can the Olympic champion get back to the top?
French Olympic champion Tony Yoka continued to build his career and secured a well-deserved points victory over Russian fighter Arslan Yallyev at the Adidas Arena in Paris. After ten rounds, the judges scored the fight 98-92, 96-94 and 97-93 unanimously in Yoka’s favor.
Yallyev (16-1, 10 knockouts) suffered the first defeat of his professional career, while Yoka (14-3, 11 knockouts) is now unbeaten in three straight fights. This marks a remarkable turnaround for the 33-year-old Frenchman, who had previously suffered three bitter defeats to Martin Bakole, Carlos Takam and Ryad Merhy – all in his home city of Paris.
After a difficult phase, Yoka made a comeback last year with two early victories on British soil. In the small towns of Tolworth and Swindon, he defeated journeymen Amine Boucetta and Lamah Griggs by knockout respectively.
Yoka was in impressive form in Paris and put Yallyev under pressure early on. He landed a strong combination of left jab and left hook in the second round. Whilst Yoka dominated the fight and operated on the front foot, Yallyev tried to counter with the jab from the back foot position.
A key moment occurred in the fifth round when Yallyev landed a right uppercut and briefly forced Yoka to the ropes. But the local hero quickly recovered and responded with an explosive left-right combination that had the crowd in the arena cheering.
In the eighth round, Yoka continued to work effectively in the infight and again landed a combination, while Yallyev countered with an overhand right. The judges scored the fight in favor of Yoka, who remained in control overall but allowed Yallyev to make some strong moves.
Tony Yoka was considered a rising heavyweight star after his gold medal victory over Joe Joyce at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Now the 33-year-old is ranked 33rd in the Boxrec heavyweight division and is trying to find his way back to the top.