Anthony Joshua tipped to face Olympic Gold medallist whose career was derailed after Martin Bakole beatdown

Anthony Joshua appears to be on track to face an Olympic gold medallist who has recently revived his career after three consecutive losses.

Anthony Joshua suffered his most brutal defeat of all last time out as he was stopped devastatingly by Daniel Dubois in Wembley Stadium.

Joshua has since had an ongoing injury that he was forced to deal with, delaying his return to the ring to the end of the year.

There has been much speculation as to who Joshua may face in what could be his penultimate fight ever, after hinting at retirement on social media.

Names span from Jared Anderson to Jarrell Miller to Deontay Wilder, but there is one more name that could be in the mix.

Anthony Joshua could face Tony Yoka in ring return

Though many believe Joshua’s final fight will come against Tyson Fury in the all-British mega-fight fans have hoped for for years, it seems his next opponent could be none other than French Olympic gold medallist, Tony Yoka.

Yoka won gold at the 2016 Olympics after defeating Filip Hrgovic and Joe Joyce via split decision, and turned pro in 2017, amassing a record of 11-0, including wins over Dave Allen and Christian Hammer, before his confidence was knocked in a huge way.

In 2022, Yoka faced Martin Bakole in Paris, and, after 10 rounds, received his first loss by majority decision.

In a bid to rebuild, Yoka then faced Carlos Takam, but a reluctance to throw led to him suffering a second defeat, this time by split decision.

Nine months later, Yoka lost yet again, this time to Ryad Merhy, also by split decision. He has since beaten two journeymen, and, just a couple of months ago, had his first fight of note since the losses as he defeated 16-0 Arslan Yallyev.

Spencer Oliver of TalkSport claimed he heard a rumor of AJ and Yoka being in talks for a fight, and said of the match-up, “I think that that is a great possibility. We get two Olympic gold medallists going at it, Tony Yoka trying to rekindle his career […] He’s very much on a rebuilding process, as is Anthony Joshua. […] There’s history there, it’ll be a great fight.”

Anthony Joshua vs Tony Yoka – The stats

With the fight potentially in the works, it may be worthwhile to see how the two fighters compare.