According to the lawyer of Olympic super heavyweight champion Tony Yoka, the superstar boxer was handed a suspended one-year ban by the French boxing federation on Tuesday for missing four doping tests.
The 25-year-old, who turned professional after winning gold in the Rio Olympics two years ago, was penalized after missing the unannounced tests between July 2016 and July 2017.
His lawyer, Arnaud Pericard, told AFP that the first missed test came while Yoka was on a plane back from training in the United States, and the second came "during a period of relaxation", when he "didn't know he was still subject to geolocation requirements".
The last two missed tests also came when controllers went to Yoka's house in France while he was in the United States, according to Pericard.
Yoka is scheduled to face former French heavyweight champion CyrilLeonet in his next fight in Paris on April 7.
Yoka was recently secured as a sparring partner by WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, who is training for his March 31 showdown with WBA, IBF, IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Cardiff, Wales.
Ironically, Yoka beat Parker to win a gold medal at the the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. At the 2010 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships he lost the final to Filip Hrgovi?.
Yoka won the gold at the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships, earning him a spot at the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. In the final round, he won a close and some felt controversial decision over and undefeated heavyweight prospect, Joe Joyce, to capture Olympic gold. For France, it was their first Super Heavyweight gold medal in their history.
In 2017, Yoka turned professional and signed a promotional pact with Richard Schaefer of Ringstar and David Haye of Hayemaker. The boxer is trained by veteran coach Virgil Hunter. He fought and beat Travis Clark in his debut fight at Le Palais des Sports in Paris, on June 2017.
2023-10-20 14:28:09
