With heavyweight contender Tony Yoka winning a 10-rounder in Paris on Saturday, there was prompt speculation that the 2016 Olympic gold medalist could fight the man he defeated in that gold medal match, Joe Joyce, in a return.
Yoka forced Joyce to accept silver at the Rio Olympics, and there has often been talk of them fighting again but as professionals.
Yoka, on Saturday, gave now 16-1 (10 KOs) Arslan Yallyev his first loss, claiming a decision win and his third victory in a row.
It was also, according to Yoka’s trainer Don Charles, the last bout in his contractual agreement with his French managers, and so he is free to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
Joyce, 16-4 (15 KOs), has lost his last two – to Derek Chisora and Filip Hrgovic – but the 39-year-old would likely welcome another high-profile fight.
While speculation has seen Yoka – who is 14-3 (11 KOs) – linked with fighting Joyce on the July 19 Wembley undercard of Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, who is also trained by Charles, nothing has been signed or sealed.
“Yoka had a good win over an unbeaten Russian,” Charles told BoxingScene. “It was his last contractual fight for Frenchman last night so he’s totally with us now. I mentioned it [Yoka-Joyce] to Frank [Warren] a while back because they fought each other in Rio, and I thought Joe won the fight in Rio. If Joe Joyce was awarded gold no one would have said anything. As a Brit I was cheering Joyce on, but now Tony is my guy… [But it’s a] good fight for both of them. I welcome that fight all day long if it materialises. It’s a rematch between the Olympic gold and silver medalist.”
But, added Charles: “Nothing has been agreed or signed.”
When Yoka – who is now 33 – turned over, he was being trained by Virgil Hunter. In 2018, Yoka was banned by the French anti-doping association for missing three drug tests in the space of a year, and his subsequent appeal was rejected.
On his way to gold in 2016, Yoka defeated Jordan’s Hussein Ishaish in the quarter-finals, Hrgovic in the semis and then Joyce, by scores of 30-27, 29-28 against one card of 29-28 for Joyce. It was controversial, however, with one boxing stat counter, Boxstat, claiming Joyce had outlanded the Frenchman by 99 punches to 47.