{"id":670610,"date":"2026-07-02T22:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/670610\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:40:09","slug":"world-heavyweight-title-fight-thrown-into-late-chaos-as-bout-scrapped-days-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/670610\/","title":{"rendered":"World heavyweight title fight thrown into late chaos as bout scrapped days before"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Yoka’s luck goes from bad to worse.<\/p>\n

Just three months after the collapse of his high-stakes clash with Lawrence Okolie<\/a>, Yoka has now reportedly been forced to pull out of a WBA heavyweight title<\/a> fight with Murat Gassiev.<\/p>\n

\"TOPSHOT<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Yoka has missed out on two big opportunities back-to-backCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n

Yoka (15-3) looked to have landed on his feet when the title shot was presented to him so soon after Okolie’s failed drug test put an end to his WBC eliminator.<\/p>\n

The prestige of the fight was even given a boost earlier this week when Gassiev was made the primary WBA heavyweight champion following Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to relinquish his unified world titles.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, it wasn’t to be.<\/p>\n

According to esteemed boxing journalist Dan Rafael, Yoka suffered a back injury and will not be able to make the scheduled July 11 date in the Russian capital of Moscow.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON BOXING <\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether the promoters of the event, IBA, will look to seek a new opponent for ‘Iron’ Gassiev.<\/p>\n

Heavyweights Joe Joyce<\/a> and Artem Suslenkov are set to square off on the undercard.<\/p>\n

Either man could be considered as a short-notice replacement.<\/p>\n

Especially Suslenkov (14-0), who currently holds a No.10 ranking with the WBA. <\/p>\n

The 30-year-old Russian boasts an unbeaten record, but is yet to face anyone of note in the paid ranks. <\/p>\n

He did, however, score a unanimous decision win over former cruiserweight world title challenger Michael Hunter in an IBA pro bout two years ago. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The IBA may look to bring in a replacement for Gassiev to save the cardCredit: Getty\"Joyce<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Joyce is among the heavyweights who could step inCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Joyce (16-4) last set foot in the ring in April 2025 when he was beaten by Filip Hrgovic on points.<\/p>\n

‘The Juggernaut’ has lost four of his last five, with his last win coming back in March 2024 against Kash Ali. <\/p>\n

Explaining his decision to return to the ring hours before the news broke that Yoka was out, Joyce told talkSPORT.com: “I’m fighting for legacy.<\/p>\n

“I want to show the boxing fans all around the world what I’ve got.<\/p>\n

“The icing on the cake would be to win a world title.<\/p>\n

“I obviously got up the mountain before, and this is my third crack at the pie.”<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

While it seemed like a pipe dream at the time of the interview, Joyce could be on the cusp of a world title shot if all the cards fall into place.<\/p>\n

Watch Boxing on DAZN<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue<\/p>\n

Sign up to DAZN<\/a> to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.<\/p>\n

Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate<\/a> from just \u00a324.99\/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, DAZN Standard<\/a> is just \u00a315.99\/month, with the caveat you will have to pay for pay-per-view events.<\/p>\n

Click here to sign up<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tony Yoka’s luck goes from bad to worse. Just three months after the collapse of his high-stakes clash…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[224485,2560,6102,21376,93473,101,20710,56,54,55,40268],"class_list":["post-670610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-artem-suslenkov","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-joe-joyce","tag-murat-gassiev","tag-sports","tag-tony-yoka","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-world-title"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}