Clearly, Tony Yoka’s defeat will not have had repercussions only on the rings. Last Saturday, the Olympic champion suffered his third consecutive defeat, against Ryad Merhy, at the decision of the judges.
Robin Delpierre, president of the National Boxing League, made controversial remarks after the fight to our colleagues at L’Equipe: “In England, in a fight like this, the local boxer would have won. When I saw Yoka almost with tears in his eyes, after the result was announced, it hurt my heart. We could have at least given him a draw. Of course, he was narrowly beaten. I know he didn’t do much, that he worked on one thing. But in France, it’s worthless (….) How many French people have I seen being robbed abroad, and it doesn’t bother anyone. But we are not capable of helping a boxer. We are afraid of the public, of everything. We have done more harm to boxing than if we had given it victory.”
Also read “Yoka is too nice, he lacks the gladiator side”: Doumbé pays the French boxer after his defeat
Following the outcry generated by this declaration, the latter presented his resignation to Dominique Nato, president of the French boxing federation, who accepted it. Via a press release announcing the news, the Federation affirmed that “the president of the French boxing federation wishes to clarify that the entire FFBoxe steering committee is in total opposition to certain assertions made in this interview”.
