Tony Yoka in combat at Roland-Garros ? Improbable … but nevertheless true! The French Olympic champion played his first fight in the stadium of Roland-Garros this Friday evening, broadcast on Canal Plus. In a beautiful atmosphere, the French won by KO in the 7th round against the Croatian Petar Milas and then paid a nice tribute to Jean Paul Belmondo. After the music festival that was invited on June 21 Auteuil gate, it is a sport other than tennis that has been offered to the public.
Tony Yoka at the microphone of Tennis Actu in 2017
🧡 pic.twitter.com/lmFRS7HtWy
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) September 10, 2021
Tony Yoka – Petar Milas, it was Friday night on the Chatrier
The French Tennis Federation is happy to announce that the stadium Roland-Garros will host an exceptional boxing reunion, brought to you by Allstar Boxing and Canal +, next Friday September 10 on the court Philippe-Chatrier, with notably Tony Yoka, as headliner. This event is part of the opening of the stadium Roland-Garros year round to other sports or cultural events.
Tickets for this boxing meeting are available on the website https://www.ticketmaster.fr/
Yoka: “I have never played tennis”
In an interview, the player confessed to never having played tennis, a sport which nevertheless has some similarities with boxing, a sport in which he excels. A fervent supporter of Rafael Nadal, the boxer would pay well for a fight against the Mallorcan, who has the advantage of being left-handed. A nice little interview to find on the Roland-Garros website or on this tweet from the FFT.
🠥 Š He will fight tonight at the stadium @rolandgarros
most @TonyYoka don’t play tennis (yet) …But he still has good notions 🠑‡pic.twitter.com/pb9jSdeXHi
— FFT (@FFTennis) September 10, 2021
Tonight at the stadium @rolandgarros ðŸ??Ÿ https://t.co/nKs32caFXU
— FFT (@FFTennis) September 10, 2021
A historic event
On the occasion of this historic event, the Frenchman Tony Yoka, Olympic champion in Rio in 2016, will face, for his eleventh professional fight, the Croatian Petar Milas (undefeated in 15 fights), in the “Heavyweight” category. Frenchman Mathieu Bauderlique, bronze medalist in Rio, will face Russian Igor Mikhalkin for the title of European EBU light heavyweight champion. Estelle Yoka will also participate in this meeting (her opponent remains to be designated). Three other prestigious international fights will also be on the bill, notably with Farrhad Saad, Hugo Micaleff and Khalil El Hadri.
🠥 Š The FFT is pleased to announce that the Roland-Garros stadium will host an exceptional boxing meeting on Friday, September 10 on the Philippe-Chatrier court, with in particular @TonyYoka, as headliner 🠑‡
— FFT (@FFTennis) July 21, 2021
On the central court of Roland Garros for the weighing of the fights of Yoka and Cissokho pic.twitter.com/3ZaIvoZCxp
— Arnaud Valadon (@Arnaud_Valadon) September 9, 2021
If the brand new Philippe-Chatrier court will host a boxing meeting for the first time, three fights have already taken place on the central court: Marcel Cerdan / Holman Williams in 1946, Jean-Claude Bouttier / Carlo Duran in 1971 (Championship of Europe) and Jean-Claude Bouttier / Carlos Monzon in 1973 (World Championship). Note that, during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Roland-Garros stadium will be an Olympic site dedicated to tennis but also to boxing.
The FFT wants Roland-Garros to be a new living space combining sport, events, entertainment and culture. Throughout the year, it will thus welcome clubs, communities, the general public and businesses looking for unique and exclusive experiences in this truly legendary setting. The FFT will obviously be attentive to ensuring that this event takes place in compliance with the implementation of the health pass, in accordance with new government provisions.
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