Tony Yoka given suspended ban over missed doping tests

Published Mar. 7, 2018 7:03 a.m. ET

PARIS (AP) Olympic super heavyweight champion Tony Yoka has been given a suspended one-year ban by the French boxing federation for missing doping tests.

French boxing federation president Andre Martin told L'Equipe newspaper that the governing body's anti-doping commission handed down the sanction after Yoka had three ''no-shows'' between September 2016 and July 2017.

The 25-year-old Yoka turned professional after winning gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics two years ago.

The French anti-doping agency could ask for a harsher sanction if it considers the French federation's decision too lenient.

Yoka has won his first three professional bouts. He is set to take on his former sparring partner - former French heavyweight champion Cyril Leonet - on April 7 in his next fight.

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