Yoka ahead of the fight with Gassiev: "Murat's style suits me perfectly"
Tony Yoka is coming to Moscow with the most direct possible message: he believes that Murat Gassiev's fighting style suits him and that on July 11, 2026, he can win the WBA heavyweight title. According to an announcement by the International Boxing Association, the French Olympic champion from Rio 2016 accepted the offer for a bout against Gassiev after a brief consultation with his family and team, and the fight will be the main event of the IBA PRO 19 evening at VTB Arena in Moscow. In its schedule, the WBA lists the duel as a fight for the WBA World heavyweight title, noting that Gassiev enters the match with a record of 33-2 and 26 knockouts, while Yoka comes in with a record of 15-3 and 12 knockouts. For Gassiev, this is the first defense of the belt he won against Kubrat Pulev, while Yoka is trying to turn his career recovery into his greatest professional success.
Main event of the IBA PRO 19 evening in Moscow
According to the IBA's official announcement, Murat "Iron" Gassiev and Tony "The Artist" Yoka will box on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at the IBA PRO 19 event at VTB Arena. The organizer emphasizes that the duel will headline one of the strongest events in that series, with title fights, Olympic names, experienced professionals and boxers trying to break through toward the top. The WBA's official schedule confirms the same date, location and status of the match, and in the technical details it notes a major difference in build: Gassiev is around 189 centimeters tall, with a reach of approximately 193 centimeters, while Yoka is around 201 centimeters tall and has a reach of about 208 centimeters. These numbers explain why the preview speaks so much about a clash of styles, and not only about the formal importance of the belt. Gassiev brings pressure, a powerful punch and the experience of a former world cruiserweight champion into the ring, while Yoka is counting on height, arm length, movement and schooling from top-level amateur boxing.
According to the WBA, in December 2025 in Dubai, Gassiev stopped Kubrat Pulev in the sixth round and thus won the WBA heavyweight title. The WBA described that finish as the moment when, after a tactically cautious start, Gassiev found room for a left hook and broke the fight against the experienced Bulgarian boxer. In the current WBA records, Oleksandr Usyk is listed as the WBA Super World heavyweight champion, while Gassiev is listed as the WBA World champion, which is important context for understanding the hierarchy of belts in that organization. In its previews, the IBA presents Gassiev as a world champion defending his belt for the first time in front of the Moscow crowd. That is why the duel with Yoka has sporting and promotional weight, but also a clear question: can Gassiev confirm that he has fully stabilized among the heavyweights after moving up from the cruiserweight division.
Yoka believes the fighting style suits him
In an interview published by the IBA, Yoka emphasized that he does not want to build the fight preview on insulting his opponent, but on the belief that he is ready for a major challenge. According to the IBA, he said that Gassiev's style "suits him perfectly" because the Russian boxer goes forward and likes an open fight. Yoka also believes that his own height, movement and technical precision give him room to impose distance, especially if Gassiev keeps trying to constantly cut off the ring. The Frenchman also pointed out that he expects a physically tough fight and that, for that reason, he focused in camp on repeating actions through all 12 rounds, not on lifting maximum weights in the gym. According to his interpretation, the key will not be just one punch or one combination, but the ability to maintain technical work until the final phase of the fight.
That approach logically follows from Yoka's career. According to official Olympic data, Yoka won gold in the super heavyweight category at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, where he defeated Joe Joyce in the final. In its preview, the IBA also recalls that he was the world amateur champion in 2015, which explains why the organizer presents him as a boxer with an elite amateur pedigree. He opened his professional career with a run of 11 victories, but then faced the most difficult period of his career: between 2022 and 2023, he lost to Martin Bakole, Carlos Takam and Ryad Merhy. According to his statement to the IBA, boxing, personal and organizational problems came together at that time, and Yoka claims that he has left that period behind him.
After the defeat to Merhy in December 2023, Yoka, according to the IBA, put together four victories: against Amine Boucetta in London in July 2024, Lamah Griggs in Swindon in September 2024, Arslan Yallyev at the Adidas Arena in Paris in May 2025 and Patrick Korte in Lagos in December 2025. That run does not erase the earlier defeats, but it has returned him to a position from which he can again seek a major fight. The IBA states that Yoka received the opportunity to fight Gassiev after his planned match with Lawrence Okolie on April 25 was canceled. According to the same announcement, the Frenchman was already at an advanced stage of preparation, took only a short break and then immediately continued camp for Moscow. That is precisely why he says he will be better prepared for the July duel than he would have been for the April appearance.
Gassiev defends his belt and status in the heavyweight division
For Gassiev, the fight with Yoka is more than a home defense of the belt. In professional boxing, he has already proved his worth in the cruiserweight division, but heavyweight requires a different kind of confirmation: continuity, adaptation to larger opponents and the ability to carry power against boxers who have a significant height and physical advantage. In a text about his preparations, the IBA published that Gassiev spent part of his camp in altitude training in the Elbrus area and at the Olympic Training Center in Kislovodsk, before the final technical-tactical phase near Moscow. His coach Anton Kadushin emphasized, according to the IBA, that the camp was divided into phases of conditioning, endurance, technique and mental preparation. Kadushin also assessed that Gassiev has not yet fully completed his adaptation to heavyweight, but that he is on the right path and strongly motivated to establish himself among the elite.
According to information the IBA published from Gassiev's camp, his weight during preparations stays around 104 to 105 kilograms, while outside camp it can be closer to 110 kilograms. The coaching staff emphasizes functional strength, endurance and recovery, not attractive numbers from the gym. According to the IBA, preparations include basic strength exercises, kettlebell work, running, swimming and cycling, along with strict control of recovery. An important part of the camp is also the choice of sparring partners, especially after the change of the planned opponent and the focusing of preparations toward Yoka. Kadushin, according to the IBA announcement, stated that Yoka is not necessarily more dangerous than other options, but is stylistically different because he brings a larger frame, Olympic experience and a different rhythm.
Gassiev did not underestimate his opponent in the fight preview. According to the IBA, the Russian champion described Yoka as a big, strong and experienced boxer with a serious amateur background. At the same time, he said he believes in his own desire to keep the title and that the audience in Moscow will see his best version. Such a message fits the logic of a first belt defense: the champion is not defending only the title, but also the narrative that victory against Pulev was the beginning of a new chapter, not an isolated peak. For a fighter who entered the heavyweight division with a reputation from a lower division, a match against a tall and technically trained Olympic champion can be a particularly valuable test.
Difference in build and possible tactical direction
The WBA data show that Yoka has a significant advantage in height and reach, which could influence the rhythm of the fight from the opening rounds. If Yoka manages to keep the fight at long range, his jab, footwork and exits from exchanges could slow Gassiev's pressure. If Gassiev manages to shorten the distance and force his opponent into fighting along the ropes, his power and body work could change the course of the match. That is exactly why Yoka's statement about repeating actions through 12 rounds carries sporting weight: against a boxer who is constantly coming forward, technical discipline must last longer than a few good opening rounds. Gassiev, on the other hand, must find a way to enter middle and close range without paying too high a price on the way in.
This duel therefore has elements of a classic clash between pressure and distance, but it is not simple only within that frame. Yoka, although taller, must not remain passive, because that would give Gassiev time to set up his attacks. Gassiev, although stronger in short exchanges, must not rush without preparation, because he could lose rounds on activity and clean punches from distance. In professional heavyweight fights, details often decide the outcome: the timing of a left hook, the exit after a jab, clinch work or the ability to withstand a surge after a lost round. The WBA knockout statistics show that both have finishing power, but also that Gassiev carries a more pronounced reputation as a puncher. Yoka therefore is not coming to Moscow only for the belt, but also for proof that his technical advantage can be maintained against one of the physically most dangerous heavyweights at the top of the WBA.
Broader context of the event and the heavyweight division
IBA PRO 19 has not been announced only as a fight between Gassiev and Yoka. According to the IBA, at the same event, undefeated Russian heavyweight Artem Suslenkov will box against Joe Joyce, the Olympic silver medalist from Rio 2016 and a recognizable professional heavyweight. That duel further connects the event with Yoka's Olympic past, because Joyce lost the Olympic super heavyweight final precisely against Yoka. The IBA has also announced the appearance of Sharabutdin Ataev against experienced Venezuelan Jose "Bolivita" Uzcátegui, which gives the card a broader international character. In such a lineup, the main event has additional promotional value: the winner will not only win the belt, but will impose himself as a name that can be positioned more strongly in the next discussions about the top of the heavyweight division.
According to the IBA, Yoka assessed that the heavyweight division is entering a new period and mentioned Filip Hrgović, Agit Kabayel, Daniel Dubois, Martin Bakole and Moses Itauma as possible important actors, with the belief that he himself belongs to that group. Such an assessment shows that the fight in Moscow is not intended for him as an isolated return to the big stage, but as an entry into the final chapter of his career in which he still wants to achieve his professional peak. For Gassiev, a victory would mean confirmation of his new status after winning the belt and an argument for even bigger fights. For Yoka, a victory would have a historic dimension, because the IBA emphasizes that he could become the first French professional heavyweight world champion. In both cases, the outcome will influence how the next moves are read in the WBA rankings and the broader heavyweight market.
The IBA's professional project in a sensitive institutional environment
The event is organized by IBA PRO, the professional platform of the International Boxing Association. That fact is important because the IBA is no longer recognized in the Olympic system: on June 22, 2023, the International Olympic Committee withdrew recognition from that organization, citing issues related to governance, finances and reform obligations. This does not prevent the IBA from organizing its own professional and amateur events, but it explains why its events are also viewed through the broader institutional context of world boxing. In the article about the event, IBA president Umar Kremlev described Gassiev-Yoka as a major heavyweight match and an opportunity for the organization to present a platform for prominent boxers. For the athletes, however, the central question remains sporting: victory, belt, visibility and the next contract.
That is why the preview from Moscow is interesting beyond the fight itself. The heavyweight division traditionally attracts global attention the fastest, and fights involving Olympic champions, former champions and boxers with strong knockout records easily cross the boundaries of the local market. Gassiev has the opportunity, in front of a home crowd, to confirm that the victory over Pulev opened a sustainable path toward bigger heavyweight clashes. Yoka has the opportunity to show that the defeats from 2022 and 2023 were a phase of his career, not a final verdict on his professional ambitions. His claim that Gassiev's style suits him is therefore not only a promotional sentence ahead of the match, but an announcement of a plan on which the entire second part of his career will be tested at VTB Arena.
Sources:
- International Boxing Association – interview with Tony Yoka and preview of the fight against Murat Gassiev at IBA PRO 19 (link)
- International Boxing Association – official announcement of the Murat Gassiev vs Tony Yoka fight in Moscow (link)
- World Boxing Association – official fight schedule with data for Gassiev-Yoka (link)
- World Boxing Association – list of current WBA heavyweight champions (link)
- World Boxing Association – report on Gassiev's victory against Kubrat Pulev in Dubai (link)
- Olympics.com – official results of the Rio 2016 boxing tournament and Yoka's Olympic gold in the super heavyweight category (link)
- International Olympic Committee – decision to withdraw recognition of the International Boxing Association in 2023 (link)
- International Boxing Association – information on Gassiev's preparations for the title defense against Yoka (link)
- International Boxing Association – announcement of Artem Suslenkov vs Joe Joyce on the same event (link)
- International Boxing Association – announcement of Sharabutdin Ataev vs Jose Uzcátegui at IBA PRO 19 (link)