Tony Yoka: beaten by Martin Bakole, the French suffers his first defeat among the pros


The French boxer Tony Yoka experienced this Saturday, May 14 his first defeat in his professional career, beaten by the Congolese Martin Bakole. He now has eleven wins for one loss.

“Today, Martin was stronger, I think everyone could see it,” admitted the Frenchman in the ring, under a few whistles from the spectators of the Accor Arena.

From the first round, the 2016 Olympic champion was dominated by his opponent, better ranked than him in the world hierarchy, which was a first for him and represented a first big challenge. The power of Bakole, who recorded his 18th victory in 19 fights, pushed the Frenchman to kneel, which he had never done before.

The challenge was to know if the Congolese, more massive but less mobile than the French, was going to go the distance. He seemed to show signs of fatigue, especially in the eighth round, but managed to resist thanks to his 125.6 kg and his 98 meter. On the contrary, it is the Frenchman (109.6 kg, 2.01 m ) who looked completely exhausted in the last round.

Finally, Yoka lost on points, by split decision of the judges (96-92, 95-93, 94-94). “It’s time to go back to work, maybe to change some things,” analyzed Yoka, world amateur champion in 2015.





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