Tony Yoka vs Petar Milas Preview Sept. 10th, 2021
Two unbeaten heavyweight hopefuls will square off in Paris on Friday, Sept. 10th as former Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka of France takes on Petar Milas of Croatia. The 10-round bout will be shown live in America on ESPN+. Yoka last fought in March when he stopped Joel Tambwe Djeko in the 12th round to claim the vacant European Union Heavyweight Title. Milas hasn’t fought since October, 2019 when he beat Johnny Muller via an eight-round unanimous decision.
Yoka vs Milas Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Petar Milas +750
- Tony Yoka -1450
My Pick
The 29-year-old Yoka has basically flown under the radar since turning pro in 2017 but has been perfect in the ring so far with a mark of 10-0 including 87 Ko’s. He fought in the 2012 Olympics in London 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 54 rounds as a pro against limited opposition. The reason for his lack of rounds is the fact he’s stopped everybody he’s faced other than Jonathan Rice and Christian Hammer. Rice took him the six-round distance in Yoka’s second pro outing in 2017 and Hammer went 10 rounds with him last November.
All 10 of Yoka’s opponents have had winning records and he’s also stopped Travis Clark, Ali Baghouz, Cyril Leonet, Dave Allen, Alexander Dimitrenko, Michael Wallisch and Johann 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 80.5 per cent and also has the size at 6-feet-7-inches and an 82-inch reach.
The 26-year-old Milas is a relative unknown who owns a perfect mark of 15-0 with 11 Kos. He’s boxed 58 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 and also owns better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 73.3 per cent. However, it should be noted that he hasn’t taken on any legitimate contenders as of yet either.
The biggest wins so far in Milas’ career have come against the likes of Andrej Pesic, Kevin Johnson, Francesco Pianeta and Denis Bakhtov. He stopped Johnson in the eighth round in 2018 for the IBO International Heavyweight Title and defended it in his next fight against Pianeta via a 10-round unanimous decision.
Milas then won the vacant WBC Mediterranean Heavyweight Title in 2018 with a fourth-round stoppage over Mirko Tintor. Milas stands just over 6-feet-4-inches tall but unfortunately has an unlisted reach which means he gives up 2.5-inches in height to Yoka. He also enjoyed a fine amateur career and win a bronze medal at the Croatian National Championships in 2014.
Prediction…
Milas has enough power to cause Yoka some problems but so far Yoka has displayed a solid chin and Milas hasn’t fought in almost two years. Still, he needs to take the challenger seriously or this could have a bad ending. I’m expecting Milas to give Yoka all he can handle but am expecting Yoka to do just enough to have his hand raised when it’s all over. That being said, at 29 years of age, Yoka needs to step up the level of competition if he hopes to land a title shot in the near future.
Yoka’s size and power should do the trick.
Play: Yoka -1450 @ BetOnline.ag
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Petar Milas betting • Tony Yoka betting