Martin Bakole Delivers a Beating to Tony Yoka
Martin Bakole (18-1, 13KOs) picked up a satisfying victory over top rated heavyweight Tony Yoka (11-1, 9KOs) via unanimous decision.
Bakole is a tough-as-nails, come-forward fighter that throws hard punches at every turn. His only career defeat came at the hands of top contender Michael Hunter. The big man from the Democratic Republic of The Congo went through extreme measures to make this fight happen.
Yoka is part of the next crop of heavyweights and viewed as the future of the division. Moreover, he is trained by the famous Virgil Hunter and has good fundamentals for a man his size.
These two fighters original fight got canceled due to COVID. The Frenchman then tried to move on to fight Filip Hrgovic in an IBF title eliminator. However, Bakole was not willing to forgo his opportunity and won his petition to the IBF, claiming that Yoka was still obligated to fight him.
THE BEATING STARTED EARLY
Bakole came out like a man possessed as he jumped on Yoka, landing hard right hands and thudding punches to the body. He landed an overhand right that had Yoka on wobbly legs before landing a left hook that dropped the Frenchman to the canvas.
Yoka barely survived the first round, and it didn’t get any easier from there. Bakole, the much heavier man, used that to his advantage. He stalked Yoka while landing brutal body shots and overhand rights.
Yoka would fight back, landing body shots and the occasional right hand. Bakole was not fazed and returned fire, landing more bone-crushing body shots. Yoka was getting busted up and suffered a broken nose. He was bleeding heavily, but he continued to fight on.
In round five, Bakole kept coming forward throwing thudding punches that had Yoka on the back foot. Despite landing a few good body shots, Yoka was advancing but appeared to have slipped. It was counted as a knockdown.
Yoka showed some heart over the next couple of rounds, marching forward and attacking a Bakole who appeared to have slowed down a little bit. He landed hard body shots and a huge uppercut followed by an overhand right.
Bakole continued to impose his will despite being less active, and kept landing hard punches that had Yoka in retreat mode. At one point, he stood in the middle of the ring demanding for a backpedaling Yoka to come and fight.
Yoka needed a knockout going into the last round, and he decided to stay on the back foot, dancing around the ring. It was clear he was okay with surviving the fight after taking a beating the entire fight.
In the end, all three judges scored it for Martin Bakole who claims the biggest win of his career over a top-rated contender in Yoka.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Garrisson Bland
