Heavyweight Boxing! Martin Bakole (CONGO) vs Tony Yoka (FRANCE) | Full Fight Highlights

Trained by Billy Nelson, in the red corner, Martin Bacollet! In the blue corner, the artist, Tony Yoka! Martin Bacollet! Bacollet! Tony Yoka! Bacollet! Tony Yoka! Slotherwork, slotherwork, if he gets inside. Slotherwork, slotherwork, okay? You gotta weather the storm, ******* warrior, you understand me? Weather the storm now for your family. Passionate talks in the ring. And the crowd here in France trying to get... Trying to get behind Tony Yoka, the Olympic and World Amateur Champion. And Yoka's come out quickly. Yoka not looking overly confident. That's better, he's got a boxer move, Yoka. And he's been caught again! Bercouli just looking, just eats a jab. Continues to walk forward. Bercouli looking ruthless and composed at the moment. The crowd trying to get... The crowd of Virgil Hunter trying to get behind Tony Yoka here. Big slapping shot to the body there from Bercouli and then... Hunter shouting out, he's slowing down already. Better work here from Yoka. That's better from Yoka. But Yoka's starting, it looks like he's a bit more steady on his feet, but... Even at the beginning of that round he was looking... Not looking in a great place. For the jab. Continuing, he's taking these jabs from Yoka. And it doesn't really seem to be bothering him too much. Yoka has come on strong late if he can make it that far into the fight. Yoka going for a little walkabout. Goes to come in with a shot to the body like an undercut. Didn't really do much to Bercouli. And coming back with a decent jab. That brings an end to the second round. Another good round for Bercouli, but... Don't pull out, John. Turn right here, you got it. Johnny, look at that uppercut from that guy. He's outmarked himself. He's gonna take it to get another win. How do you feel? Calm down. Now you got it. You got it. Yoka tries to start quickly. Round number three. Bercouli getting a good shot to the body. Bercouli saying, come to me. Both men trade. Bercouli stalking Yoka at the moment. Taking the center of the ring. Another good body shot and it goes... Goes upstairs. Bercouli continuing to come forward. The crowd here in Paris trying to get behind their man. Blood coming from the nose. Yoka in a world of trouble at the moment. Bercouli literally, quite literally smells blood. Looks like the nose is broken of Tony Yoka. Not in a good place. He's got a lot of work to do to come back from this. Another good shot from Bercouli. It's just relentless pressure. I think there's a cut to the eye. Bercouli not deterred at all by the work from Tony Yoka. Trying his best to put something together. Bercouli with these short, quick shots to the body. Sort of peppering up Yoka for... Punishment he's receiving at the moment. Punishment in Paris, ladies and gentlemen. That's what's going on for Tony Yoka right now. Long way to go. Bit of a wild-ish swing. Not looking good for Tony Yoka. Motivated. He looks angry with himself, Tony Yoka. To be fair to him, despite the beating he's taken, he's coming out into these rounds quickly, which is probably the worst thing for him to do. Virgil Hunter saying to slow it down. Use the jab more. There's Bercouli with a good jab again. Absolutely destroying Tony Yoka at the moment. That's another good hook from Bercouli. Good right hook there. Tony Yoka going to the body. Another shot, Tony Yoka. And then lands another. Another one. Yoka rode it well. Going back into the ropes. Bercouli looking as cool as a cucumber in there at the moment. Absolute demolition job at the moment. Billy Nelson relatively quiet in his corner. A decent jab there. Bercouli just punches away the second jab attempt. Got to the body there from Bercouli. Yoka doing his best to try and slow him down, and blood just pouring out of his nose. Yoka trying to get into his rhythm, but Bercouli's just not letting it happen. Yoka still with serious intention in his eyes. Can he bring himself back from this? We're coming to the final ten seconds of round number four. I'm surprised Yoka's done well to limit damages after the first round. And walking back to his coach, Ginger Lee, to say the least. Doing his best, saying you've only lost three rounds, one round at a time. You're a champion, Tony. In the first round, you are a something warrior. And do this for your family. Do this for your kids. Virgil Hunter was training Andre Ward against Sergey Kovalev. One of the best, some of the best motivational speeches I've seen in that. Oh! Oh! Twisted it a little bit. The referee's giving a count anyway. I didn't think that was a knockdown myself. Second knockdown. We'll have to see the replay. I didn't think it was a knockdown. I thought Yoka slipped. Bikoli, things going from bad to worse for the Olympic champion Tony Yoka on home turf. Bikoli's got Yoka in the corner. We're going to have to see much more of that from Tony Yoka. Bikoli missing with some big shots there. Veering towards the back of the head of Tony Yoka. Tony Yoka in a right state. Bikoli seemingly has all the time in the world to land whatever he likes. Very composed in there. Undercut to the body. Bikoli shakes his head. Wonderful stuff from Martin Bikoli there. Bikoli just eats two jabs. Be having any effect on him whatsoever. Looking to spoil the party in Paris here. Bikoli is slowing down a bit though. Still pretty much all Martin Bikoli. Snippets of success here and there from Tony Yoka. Yoka on the back foot. Bikoli once again taking the middle of the ring. Bikoli's lead left hand and right hand. Gloves both of Tony Yoka, ladies and gentlemen. Yoka seems to have dealt with the little slip on his ankle there. Need to see more from Tony Yoka. He's trying to coast this round. There he takes another good jab from... It was with the right hand actually from Bikoli. He's going to jab, come. Yoka trying to see more of that from Yoka. More pressure. He's going to have to take chances. We're over halfway through the contest now. And I've got him losing every single round so far. So Yoka's going to need a knockout or multiple knockdowns. And you just can't see it happening at the moment. I just don't believe it at the moment that Tony Yoka can do it. Maybe I'm wrong. Probably Yoka's best round so far. Not too much to write home about. Good shot there from Tony Yoka. Going to need to see more than that. He's going to need to rally. Get a couple of rounds under his belt. And he's known for finishing strong, Tony Yoka, into the later rounds. Bikoli is starting to look a little more lethargic. Looks nowhere near as bad as Tony Yoka, of course. But it's just... Just as I say that, Bikoli... Bikoli ends the round very strong. Going to need the comeback of a lifetime. We'll have a listen in and see what... See what Virgil Hunt is saying to Tony Yoka. Round number seven. That's better from Tony Yoka. Good combination on the inside. Using that hand speed he's got. Bikoli pulls up his shorts and comes forward. There's a good uppercut from Tony Yoka. It would be quite something if Tony Yoka could pull this off. Showed great heart, Tony Yoka, considering that... From Martin Bikoli. Bikoli continues to walk forward. A set of death shots to the body. Hooks up top. Bikoli just continuing to walk down Yoka. Yoka has snippets of success and then... Bikoli... Seems to be able to assert the pressure once again. Keep targeting him! That's a good shot from Yoka, but Bikoli's... Bikoli comes back with six or seven more shots himself. Not the flashiest stuff you've ever seen, but... But tough and effective. Behind the jab, Yoka seems to be getting a little bit more confidence. So he's taken the best Bikoli's had to offer. Yoka seems to... The pressure from Bikoli is just too much for the Frenchman. Looks like that nose is broken of Tony Yoka. An attack there from Tony Yoka brings a... End of the seventh round. Still a lot of pressure from Bikoli. Keep throwing that right hand, okay? Good uppercut finding its way through the guard there. From Martin Bikoli. We need these last three rounds and a knockdown. I honestly don't think that's going to be enough. Not on my scorecard anyway, especially with two 10-8 rounds. Granted, one of the knockdowns for Yoka shouldn't have been enough, but... That's nonetheless counted anyway. It's stacked up against Tony Yoka, the two knockdowns. Virgil Hunt is saying, let him make a mistake. The shots of Tony Yoka. He's got a great performance from Martin Bikoli. Tony's got a great chin on him tonight. I'll have to give him that. The crowd cheering on any little thing to try and... To try and get their man out. Bikoli ducks. Ducks a big shot from Yoka there. Can Tony Yoka land that? He's going to have to put Bikoli out cold to take this one. Coming up to the final minute of round number eight. There's a good jab from Tony Yoka. But it's been all Martin Bikoli. Could argue maybe the previous round there was some nice bits and bobs in there. Nice uppercut. Bikoli maybe a bit tight. Asking him to come to the middle. That's what it takes. This is what it's all about. You're in great shape. Don't think about your time. Don't think about nothing but winning and knocking him out. All you got to do is keep your right hand to him. When he's standing up straight, fire on him. Make him use more energy. Virgil Hunt there. Reading mine and yours minds, ladies and gentlemen. You need to knock this guy out is what he said. That's certainly what he needs. Two rounds to go. It must have been a, just as I said, fantastic, very nice jab again. Yoka's just been beaten up. Incredible heart you've got to give him that. Can Tony Yoka find the big punch to knock out Martin Bikoli? I don't see it, personally. I don't see it coming. Especially when you compare him to Tony Yoka. You've got two 10-8 rounds against Martin Bikoli, against Tony Yoka, excuse me. Potentially two rounds for Tony Yoka and you're pushing it. You're pushing it a lot. I can't give him a round. Maybe there. Maybe the seventh. Maybe. Long shot. Very astute stuff from Martin Bikoli. And really put himself in the mix for some big, big fights if he could just, just hold his nerve and take this. Trying to jump up and about on his toes. Get himself going and it's just not happening for Tony Yoka. Tony Yoka needed a miracle. Absolute miracle. Not really much to report from both men in this round, to be fair. But these rounds when Bikoli's not doing anything, that's when, that's when Tony Yoka needs to... Tony Yoka's promoter, Jerome Apavuto, comes and gives some, gives some words of encouragement to Tony Yoka in French. I assume they're words of encouragement. And Virgil Hunt is saying, you need the knockout. You need the knockout. Pull yourself. That's what's happening. He's lost every single round. Bikoli, Bikoli. Much ado as before. Oh, two good jabs from Martin Bikoli. Nice precise jabs. It's just not there tonight, I don't think, ladies and gentlemen, for Tony Yoka. Stamping on the ground. Bikoli goes for a jab to the body. I don't think he really needs to. It's just, it's just not there for Tony Yoka. Goading him. Demands him to fight and Yoka's just dancing backwards and Bikoli's saying, come and get me. Final 30 seconds. And it's been a sensational performance from Martin Bikoli. And it's just not going to happen. I don't know what he's doing on the back foot. Not having a go. He hasn't thrown a punch for about 30 seconds, Tony Yoka. That's it. Tony Yoka loses. Both men shake hands. On decision, in the red corner, Martin Bikoli. And there we go, Martin Bikoli. Rightfully, you'll have to excuse me, my French is pretty much non-existent.