Tony Yoka maintained his unbeaten record by registering a unanimous points victory over Christian Hammer in Nantes on Friday night.
The 2016 Olympic super-heavyweight champion, who defeated Britain’s Joe Joyce in that final in Rio, went 10 rounds for the first time en route to a unanimous decision over the Romanian-born German in the H Arena.
The 28-year-old Yoka is now 9-0 with seven of his victories inside distance, while the 33-year-old Hammer falls to 25-7.
It wasn’t a particularly pretty performance from Yoka, but then Hammer’s tactics didn’t exactly allow him to show off his best attributes.
The man from Hamburg looked to get inside to rough up the Frenchman, using his size to try and spoil. He was docked a point in round six when those tactics went too far.
Yoka vs Hammer results: Tony pitches a shutout
While Yoka was unable to really hurt Hammer badly, he was never in danger of losing that unbeaten record. And dealing with the tactics thrown at him will doubtless have provided valuable experience for the tests that lie ahead.
When the final bell sounded, there was little doubt that Yoka would prevail, and he did so easily with scorecards of 100-89 three times.
In reality this night told us little about the French hope’s prospects of going to the very top in boxing’s marquee weight class. Much stiffer tests await ‘La Conquete’ in the coming months and years.
