Yoka vs Joyce: Olympic Rivals Target Spring Fight in Paris

Tony Yoka has spent the last few years trying to reconstruct a reputation that collapsed under professional pressure. Now he wants Joe Joyce. The logic is simple. They have unfinished business from a summer afternoon in Rio de Janeiro almost ten years ago. The 2016 gold medal went to Yoka. A grievance stayed with Joyce for the next decade. “He still doesn’t accept his loss to me in the final of the 2016 Olympic Games,” Yoka told L’Équipe. It was one of those amateur decisions that lingers because the participants never truly move past it.

The utility of a grievance

Yoka was supposed to be the face of French boxing. The transition to the professional ranks exposed the gaps in his defense that the amateur system had protected. He lost three straight fights to Martin Bakole, Carlos Takam, and Ryad Merhy. Those nights removed the shine. He is thirty-three now and rebuilding against opponents who are paid to survive. He stopped Patrick Korte in one round recently. That keeps the record moving. The performance lacks the evidence needed to confirm he is ready for the deep water of the division. Joyce represents the recognizable name that Yoka requires. “In Paris I’d like to face a reputable opponent,” Yoka stated. “I’d like to fight Joe Joyce in the spring to close this matter once and for all.”

The decline of a durable engine

Joe Joyce is forty years old. The engine that once allowed him to walk through punishment has started to seize up. He has lost four of his last five fights. Zhilei Zhang stopped him twice. Derek Chisora outworked him. Filip Hrgovic beat him by decision in April. The durability is gone. Frank Warren publicly suggested retirement was the smart move. Promoters usually say that when the physical risk outweighs the financial reward. A fight with Yoka is structurally easy to make because they share a promoter. The fight provides a sense of closure for the two men without actually impacting the heavyweight landscape. Joyce is a veteran who might have stayed at the fight game too long.