A back injury has reportedly forced Tony Yoka to withdraw from his scheduled Saturday, July 11, title challenge against WBA heavyweight champion Murat Gassiev at the VTB Arena in Moscow.
The injury and withdrawal, first reported on by boxing writer Dan Rafael, spoil Yoka’s attempt to become France’s first-ever professional heavyweight world champion. Yoka, (15-3, 12 KOs), was already the country’s first super heavyweight gold medalist, a distinction he won at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, ironically, against British boxer Joe Joyce, who is to appear in the night’s co-featured event.