Yoka set for big fight after recent Lawrence Okolie letdown.
France’s 6’7″ former Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka (15-3, 12 KOs) has not had a very easy time in the last month or so.
Set to headline in his country’s capital of Paris against Lawrence Okolie at the end of April, Yoka’s date with the big Englishman went up in smoke when Okolie failed a drug test on the week of the fight.
Instead of receiving a replacement opponent, the entire card ended up completely collapsing. And as a result, Yoka had ultimately trained long and hard for a fight that never was.
Things seemed to be taking a turn for the positive when it was rumoured that the Frenchman would likely appear on the undercard of either Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois or Dave Allen vs. Filip Hrgovic.
When he didn’t appear on the former, the latter seemed almost for certain. However, despite having an opponent lined up for the Allen-Hrgovic bill, Yoka’s slot on the show fell through when the British Boxing Board of Control refused to sanction a fight with Dan Garber due to the levels between them.
Once again, Yoka was in limbo. That appears to no longer be the case, though.
It was reported by Sky Sports a few days ago that Yoka would be facing Murat Gassiev (33-2 (1), 26 KOs), the WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion.
Also a former unified titlist at cruiserweight, Gassiev won his current strap when he knocked out Kubrat Pulev in December. While a bout against Moses Itauma was comsidered a possibility, the Russian has now chosen a different route.
Gassiev vs. Yoka is expected to take place on the 11th of July in Moscow, Russia. The winner will emerge as the #1 challenger to the full WBA heavyweight championship.
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