The Frenchman’s run of bad luck continues.
If there’s one guy who’s had an extremely unfortunate 2026, it’s Tony Yoka. The Frenchman was all set to face Lawrence Okolie in April, his most significant outing in several fights.
The bout was even set to go down in his country’s capital of Paris, and it was the perfect opportunity for the former Olympic gold medallist to show his people just what he could still have left.
But on the very week the fight was supposed to take place, Okolie failed a drug test. And after a short search for a replacement opponent, the entire card was pulled.
Following this, there were rumours that Yoka could be facing Anthony Joshua in the Englishman’s warm-up fight, while reports also stated he could be appearing on either the Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois or Dave Allen vs. Filip Hrgovic cards.
None of these things happened. Even when Dan Garber was lined up as Yoka’s opponent on the Allen-Hrgovic show, it would ultimately fall through after the British Boxing Board of Control refused to sanction it.
Things appeared to be looking up, though, when Yoka secured a fight with Murat Gassiev, the holder of the WBA (Regular) title.
Only, Yoka has now pulled out with a back injury, meaning that his shot against Gassiev (which would have actually been for the full WBA title after Oleksandr Usyk’s recent decision to vacate his unified championship) is now off.
It is understood that a replacement opponent is currently being sought to save the main event in Gassiev’s homeland of Russia.
🚨 GASSIEV-YOKA FOR WBA TITLE OFF
❌ Tony Yoka has been forced to withdraw from his July 11 WBA title challenge of Murat Gassiev due to a back injury. It is unclear whether a replacement will step in to save the show or if the fight will be rescheduled. (@DanRafael1) pic.twitter.com/ZKIahTouXa
— EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) July 2, 2026
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