Tony Yoka reportedly out of his July 11 world title clash against Murat Gassiev

Tony Yoka (15-3, 12 KOs) is no longer set to face Murat Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs, 1 NC).

Dan Rafael reports that the Frenchman has suffered a back injury and will be unable to proceed with the fight. The bout was to headline a July 11 IBA Pro card at the VTB Arena in Moscow, Russia. Rafael also reports that it is currently unclear whether the bout would be rescheduled or if a new opponent would be sought for Gassiev.

Neither fighter has commented on the development as this piece is published.

Tony Yoka will no longer compete for Murat Gassiev’s WBA world title

Promoters for Gassiev-Yoka have yet to comment on the development. It also remains unclear whether the card will go ahead given Yoka’s withdrawal. However, it should be noted that two other heavyweight bouts were scheduled to take place on this very card. One featured Joe Joyce (16-4, 15 KOs) taking on Artem Suslenkov (14-0, 9 KOs) with the other seeing Murat Khalidov (12-0, 6 KOs) facing Arslan Yallyev (17-1, 11 KOs). There has been no confirmation yet of whether either of those fighters will replace Yoka.

The fight was an opportunity for Yoka to finally become a heavyweight world champion. Oleksandr Usyk recently announced that he would relinquish all of his titles. That included the WBA heavyweight strap. Gassiev won a secondary version of the title in his victory over Kubrat Pulev in November last year. The Russian is now the sole WBA world champion at heavyweight due to Usyk’s decision to vacate all his titles.

Misfortune for Tony Yoka

Yoka’s injury is yet another instance of misfortune to hit the 2016 Olympic gold medalist. He was scheduled to face Lawrence Okolie in April of this year. However, the entire fight card was cancelled after an anti-doping test conducted on Okolie “returned an adverse finding.” The event was never rescheduled.

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IBA PRO