The health context got the better of the fight between Yoka and Bakole

Mathieu WARNIER, Media365, published on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 at 8:44 p.m.

Faced with a limit of 2000 spectators and the associated economic consequences, the promoter of the fight to oppose next January 15 Tony Yoka to Martin Bakole preferred to give up organizing the event.

After a change of opponent, Tony Yoka’s next falls into the water. While the Olympic super-heavyweight champion in 2016 was to discover the Paris-Bercy Accor Arena on January 15, recent government decisions concerning the fight against the coronavirus have sounded the death knell for the event. Indeed, while Martin Bakole recently agreed to take the place of Carlos Takam to face the one who is undefeated in eleven professional fights, the promoter of the evening confirmed in comments collected by the daily The team that the fight will ultimately not take place. “It’s a great disappointment to have to cancel this evening so close to its end,” said Jérôme Abiteboul. The imposition of a gauge of 2000 spectators is not economically viable, it leads to financial disaster. “A cancellation which also affects all the fighters who must follow one another in the ring installed in the Accor Arena.

Abiteboul: “More than 5000 tickets had been purchased”

Jérôme Abiteboul admits that “it’s terrible because Tony Yoka and Martin Bakole, as well as all the other boxers scheduled in the program have been training hard for several months”. An evening of boxing, the first at the Accor Arena since November 2019 and Arsen Goulamirian’s victory over Kane Watts for the WBA light heavyweight world title, which promised to be a popular success despite the health context. “It’s complicated because more than 5,000 tickets had been purchased,” adds Jérôme Abiteboul. It is a puzzle and a return to square one that destroys months of work. The government decisions thus turn upside down the program of Tony Yoka, who was to look abroad after this fight in Paris. As for the idea of ​​rescheduling the event at a time promising a more favorable context, the uncertainty remains. “We are suspended from the decision and the next government announcements,” Jérôme Abiteboul concluded.