Boxing: Tony Yoka wins on points in Manchester on a few hours' notice

Tony Yoka was back in the ring, and back to winning, on Saturday 7 November at the AO Arena in Manchester. The French heavyweight beat Ukraine's Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko by unanimous decision, 59-55, over the scheduled six rounds. The bout opened the Buatsi-Hutchinson 2 show and was his first since 21 December 2025, when he knocked out Germany's Patrick Korte in the first round in Lagos.

A fight accepted on the day

The 2016 Olympic super-heavyweight champion was not on the bill. Queensberry, the promoter of the show, with whom he is under contract, called him and he accepted the fight a few hours before the doors opened. The bout was announced to the crowd shortly before the first bell. Dovbyshchenko, never stopped in his career, arrived on a losing run, including a defeat in March to Germany's Emanuel Odiase.

Yoka controlled the exchanges at range without finding the opening to end it early. According to Le Parisien, quoted by X-TremLimit, he won five of the six rounds. He finished with a bloodied nose, which had no bearing on the decision.

Staying busy

After the fight, the 34-year-old Parisian said he wants to box regularly. His record moves to 16 wins, 12 inside the distance, and 3 defeats. Several fights floated for 2026, against Lawrence Okolie, Murat Gassiev and Dan Garber, never came off, as Eurosport recalls. No date has been announced for his next outing, and his promoter still has to find him a genuine title opportunity.

Olympic gold medallist in Rio in 2016 at Joe Joyce's expense, Yoka turned professional in 2017 and won his first eleven fights before three points defeats in Paris: Martin Bakole in May 2022, Carlos Takam in March 2023 and Ryad Merhy in December 2023 at Roland-Garros. Since then he has won five in a row, including two stoppages in England in 2024 and a unanimous decision over Arslan Yallyev at the Adidas Arena in Paris in May 2025.