Murat Gassiev vs Tony Yoka - Fight is Off, Yoka is Injured

I think Joyce will beat the hell out of Gassiev if he's in the same shape as vs Hrgovic.

Gassiev was losing every round to Pulev, who is 4 years older than Joyce and doesn't have his workrate and punching power.

Joyce even at this stage of his career probably throws 3X more punches per round than Gassiev.

And I doubt that Gassiev has enough power to stop him.

 

One source saying Suslenkov could be the sub:

murat-gassiev-tony-yoka-scrapped-injury

I'd rather have that than Joyce. for one thing, Joyce really shouldn't be fighting anymore. For another, Suslenkov is undefeated. We all know he bumped Hunter, and the WBA recognized if for awhile before bizarrely pulling it. Let's see an all Russian bout!

 

Joyce has taken so much damage. I want Joyce and Chisora to retire.

That being said, if Joyce does get the shot, and if he does win, that will be a nice end to a career. Zhang destroyed Joyce sadly. Joyce had the potential to do serious things in the heavyweight division.

 

joyce has a good chance to win gassiev is not good at hw .. would be happy to see joyce be able to say he won a belt so hope he gets the shot.

 

Hopefully Joyce takes this

 

Presumably any replacement fighter would be eligible for Gassiev's WBA belt (?)

Hopefully they find someone (Joyce or other) who's a big enough name to persuade DAZN or Paramount+ or ESPN+ to pick it up.

 

Gassiev is a very good fighter but at heavyweight he's shown the limitations we've already seen at cruiserweight. He doesn't have great footwork and isn't very fast. We saw him lose to Wallin, and he was down on the judges' scorecards to Pulev before winning by knockout. But you don't need to be particularly fast to beat Joyce, as Zhang and Chisora have shown us. I say that Gassiev will be able to close the distance and win by stoppage.

 

Far better matchup...

 

Yoka really should never have had a title shot in the first place. I cant really fault Joyce as a sub with a week to go. The WBA probably shouldn't sanction it as a title fight considering Joyce is not ranked. Good on Joe stepping in to save the card

 

No way would AJ fight someone like Gassiev right now, even this version. An ex-cruiserweight champion and current heavyweight champion (as undeserved as it might be) is definitely not on his radar. Both him and Fury want the lightest touches possible so it doesn't derail their fight. Way too much money is on the line.