By Ian S Palmer
Veteran heavyweight Christian Hammer of Romania takes on unbeaten prospect and former Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka of France in Nantes France this Friday, Nov. 27th. The 10-round bout will be shown live in France and can be seen on Premier Sports in the UK. Hammer, who just recovered from a bout of Covid-19, last fought in December when he stopped Saul Farah in the first round while Yoka fought just two months ago when he stopped Johann Duhaupas in the first round.
The 33-year-old Hammer fights out of Germany and climbs through the ropes with a record of 25-6 with 14 Ko’s. He has decent power, but isn’t regarded as a home-run hitter with a knockout ratio of 48.4 per cent. He’s just over 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 78-inch reach and has 178 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008. He’s faced some decent opposition such as Luis Ortiz, Alexander Povetkin, David Price, Tyson Fury, Kevin Johnson, Danny Williams, Michael Sprott, Sherman Williams, Michael Wallisch and Mariusz Wach.
Hammer’s lost just three of his last 21 fights but has dropped two of his past five. His first defeat since 2011 was to Fury in February of 2015 when the contest was halted at the end of the eighth round and he dropped a unanimous decision to Povetkin in Dec, 2017. His other career losses came against Wach by sixth-round KO in 2010, Taras Bidenko by sixth-round majority decision in 2010, a 10-round unanimous decision to Ortiz in 2019 and by first-round stoppage to Robert Gregor in his pro debut back in 2008.
Since he’s been stopped in half of his six defeats and has been dropped several other times he has a questionable chin and that definitely won’t help him out against Yoka. Hammer’s a solid European-level boxer and former German and WBO Heavyweight European Champion with plenty of experience and could be somewhat underrated, but will need to be at his very best to upset Yoka.
Speaking of Yoka, he’s flown under the radar since turning pro in 2017 but has been perfect as a pro so far with a mark of 8-0 including 7 Ko’s. Yoka fought in the 2012 Olympics in London, England and then beat Joe Joyce of England for the super heavyweight gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He also defeated Croatia’s heavyweight hopeful Filip Hrgovic at the Games.
Yoka had also beaten Hrgovic and Joyce at the 2015 World Amateur Championships in Qatar on his way to he gold medal. There’s no doubt Yoka was a fine amateur but he’s fought just 32 rounds of a pro. This is basically because he’s stopped everybody he’s faced other than Jonathan Rice, who took him the six-round distance in Yoka’s second pro outing.
All eight of Yoka’s opponents have had winning records and he’s stopped Travis Clark, Ali Baghouz, Cyril Leonet, Dave Allen, Alexander Dimitrenko, Michael Wallisch and Duhaupas. He hasn’t taken on the elite of the division by any means, but has gradually been stepping up in class. Yoka’s got plenty of power with a current knockout ratio of 87.5 per cent and also has the size at 6-feet-7-inches and an 82-inch reach. This gives him a four-inch edge in reach on Hammer as well as five inches in height.
Prediction…
Hammer has plenty of experience but I don’t think he has the type of chin needed to stand up to the power of Yoka. On the other hand, I’m not really sure how solid Yoka’s whiskers are if Hammer should connect with a shot on the button. At 27 years of age, Yoka needs to step up the level of competition if he hopes to land a title shot in the near future. Hammer’s a pretty good test and it’s one that Yoka should pass on Friday.
