“I don’t understand“, he admitted on the microphone of Canal +, while he was knocked out standing, staring into space. Clearly marked for this new defeat – the third in a row -, Tony Yoka does not could not hide his disappointment at the end of his fight against the Belgian Ryad Merhy, who won on points Saturday evening at Roland-Garros.He’s a good boxer, that’s why we chose him. But I thought I did enough to win. I don’t necessarily understand. But it’s the boxe”, he had already thrown into the ring.
Dejected, Tony Yoka was marked as rarely a few seconds after learning the decision of the three judges. The latter unanimously gave the winner (96-94, 96-94, 96-94) to the boxer from Brussels, who was only competing in his third heavyweight fight. And the 2016 Rio Olympic champion was amazed. “With the team, we thought we had done enough to win. He had some good combos but I thought I controlled most of the fight with my jab. I don’t necessarily understand“, he explained again on Canal +, on the verge of tears.
We aimed for victory, even if it wasn’t a big victory, to move forward
For this new meeting at Roland-Garros, Tony Yoka knew he was playing big. Very big even. After his two losses against Martin Bakole and Carlos Takam, he decided to change everything. His coach, his team and his place of life. Now trained by Don Charles in the United Kingdom, he wanted to make this fight the beginning of his reconquest. “There was so much pressure around this fight, with a new coach and a new team. he explained. But now, he seemed to be under this pressure, precisely.
Faced with a smaller opponent, Yoka never managed to get the evening going. Mehry placed some powerful shots against the Habs’ not-impeccable guard. And the 2016 Olympic champion was ultimately unable to change pace to really gain the upper hand over his opponent. “It’s hard. I thought it was going to be different. We aimed for victory, even if it wasn’t a big victory, to move forwardt,” he said.
And now ?
Seeing his protégé on the ropes even when taking stock of this missed meeting, his coach Don Charles tried to come to his aid on Canal + by deploring the evening’s refereeing. “I am very confused by this judgment. This is not how we judge in boxing,” said the coach of Daniel Dubois, who recently put world champion Oleksandr Usyk in difficulty. .
But now, the damage is done. And while Yoka can blame himself for not having managed to really take control of this fight, a question now inevitably arises: what will he do after this extra slap? The one too many? “We will discuss it with my team. I don’t think that’s the question to ask right now. “, he said. But with this reconquest operation which is nipped in the bud and a record now of 11 victories for 3 defeats, this new disillusionment is a new setback which can be definitive for the Parisian of 31 years.