Tony Yoka will not now fight again in December after he sustained an injury during Friday night’s win over Christian Hammer in Nantes, France.
The 2016 Olympic super-heavyweight champion (9-0 with 7 wins inside distance) duly came through a difficult night against the Hamburg-based Romanian (25-7). He eventually prevailed by unanimous decision after a scrappy affair in the H Arena.
Yoka’s arm was raised after he pitched a shutout on all three scorecards, all identical at 100-89 (Hammer was docked a point in Round 6).
But afterwards he revealed on Twitter that plans for a showdown with Croatian Petar Milas next month are now off due to a broken hand, and he is set for an enforced break from the ring.
Merci a tous pour vos messages et vos encouragements hier. Ca a été un combat dur face a un adversaire compliqué mais on en sort grandi. Malheureusement je ne pourrai pas boxé en décembre car j’ai une Fracture a la main. Donc on va prendre le temps de soigner tt ca ????????????????❤️ pic.twitter.com/cZGkBBd5f4
— Tony YOKA (@TonyYoka) November 28, 2020
Yoka, who had claimed that Olympic gold in 2016 with a defeat of Britain’s Joe Joyce, will be frustrated by the news, particularly after he failed to sparkle against Hammer. While the night will surely help him in the long term, it did emphasise his need for more seasoning before he moves up in grade towards the elite ranks of the division.
The Parisian is currently ranked #10 by the IBF in their heavyweight rankings.
