Olympics-Boxing-Yoka win cements France’s golden couple

RIO DE JANEIRO France’s Tony Yoka beat Britain’s Joe Joyce to win the men’s Olympic super-heavyweight title on Sunday and match the lightweight gold medal won by girlfriend Estelle Mossely earlier in the week.

Yoka scored a controversial win over Joyce in the semi-finals of the World Championships in Qatar past year and the sharp-punching Frenchman believes it will give him the psychological edge.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, it wasn’t to be.

The heavier shots continued to come in from the Briton, but Yoka enjoyed persistent success behind his left jab, which was enough to shade it on two of the three judges’ cards.

‘He was very lucky indeed.

Yoka said: “I have sparred a lot with Joe and I think he is more or less scared of me, psychologically, because of what happened in the World Championships”.

Yoka should know that Joyce took his robbery with remarkable good grace – and that he is the worst Olympic super-heavyweight champion since Audley Harrison.

“I am disappointed. It’s all about the medals”.

“He fought a good fight, countering me and that, but I thought I’d be walking in here loud and proud. It frustrates me that he can be so cocky and confident when I feel I battered him”.

“But in the second I began to close him down better and was catching him”.

Joyce also missed out on becoming the third British Olympic gold medallist in the past five Olympics after Audley Harrison and Anthony Joshua won gold in 2000 and 2012 respectively. “We are going to call him “Steam-train Joe”.

“I will have to watch it back and see where I went wrong, if I went wrong”. I wanted the gold, I expected it, but it wasn’t to be. “He will be on the back foot trying to be smart, and it will be my job to pick him off again”.

Joyce’s silver was Britain’s only medal of the final day of the Rio Games, which officially concluded last night with a closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.