In boxing, tradition has it that the reigning Olympic super-heavyweight champion will build a solid reputation before the next Games, one Olympic champion chasing another. We're not necessarily talking about becoming world champion, only Joshua and Frazier did, but at least being in the top 10 heavyweight without question. Wladimir Klitschko had 35 fights before the 2000 Games. He had his world championship right after. Povetkin had 16 before the 2008 Games. Joshua was 17 and was already a world champion when Yoka became Olympic champion. Yoka only has 10, none of which is overseas. In addition, he was lucky to have an extra year thanks to the Covid. His next fight is against a top 40 inactive for two years. The worst part being that it will most likely be Jalolov who will win the Olympic final tomorrow. A boxer who already has 8 professional fights and who risks landing like a meteor on the international heavyweight scene. The Frenchman Tony Yoka's best argument to break through was to be the reigning Olympic champion.
Which is being investigated by Richard McClaren the guy that exposed Russian doping. So Yoka might every well be stripped at some point in the future of that medal and status. And also the 2 guys he controversially beat in Joyce and Hrgovic both seem closer to a title shot with Hrgovic in an IBF eliminator and Joyce who was going to be fighting Usyk in an interim title fight and likely soon a WBO eliminator. So it seems the two guys who probably deserved being Olympic champion are following the normal path you'd expect from gold medalists unlike Yoka.
If you dont have the correct promoter and the right TV deal for the exposure then you are just another anonymous athlete with a $10 trinket around your neck.... Amir Khan signed a TV deal with Frank Warren and ITV for his first four years. He was fighting very regularly, had the TV exposure and he was packing out arenas. Joshua with Hearn the exact same. Alot of these guys who are winning medals now are from poor countries, get peanuts (relatively speaking) and then get locked into long term deals with shady promotors who pay very little, give zero exposure and offer no guarantees.
True, a fighters opportunities can vary wildly depending on who you sign with. But at a certain point if things are not working out that's when you switch allegiances and get a new promoter. Much like how Joyce signed with Haye's Ringstar at the start of his career but then signed with Warren and how Hrgovic decided to sign a co promotional deal with Matchroom. Yoka started off trying to do what Joshua did by building his name at home but France isn't a big boxing nation like the UK and so has signed a co-promotional deal with Top Rank. Hopefully this sees him fighting better names on bigger cards outside of France in the future.
To be completely fair Joshua lost like 3 matches at that Olympics. That medal was an absolutely gift to him as well. And this is not a biased opinion, as i clearly like him.
Sure, but Joshua made the most of every single chance that was given to him ever since..... The same can't be said of the guys that 'beat' him. It's as though they had their hearts broken and ran off and hid and will only emerge when they are old enough to tell their grandchildren stories of how they were robbed at the Olympics. Life is all about grabbing every opportunity by the balls and siezing the moment.
I don't think anyone has a high opinion of Yoka, but the question that I have is, why did they rig the medal for him, anyway? How do they make these decisions on who is on the right end of the screwjob? He's not marketable.
Had a short doping ban and has a suspect chin (stopped a few times in the mateu ranks and in World Series of Boxing and Rice had him running and holding for dear life in his 2nd pro fght, Virgil Hunter was screaming at him not to engage).
That's right. I get it now. Thanks. Four years from now men claiming to be women will be winning all the Olympic women's gold, so maybe so maybe next time a man dating a "transwoman" winning twin golds will be the new story.
