Tony Yoka will be the first to admit there is far more that needs to be done just to get where he expected to be at this time.

The 2016 Olympic super heavyweight Gold medalist from France is undefeated in the ring thus far as a pro, though his career has anything but perfect. The 29-year-old from Paris, France enters just his eleventh pro fight, his activity stalled due to the unfortunate combination of a one-year suspension for missing random drug tests and the global pandemic to follow.

“Without lying, I was expecting to have more fights,” Yoka admitted to BoxingScene.com. “If you asked me this same question five years ago where I would be now after the Olympic Games, it would have been further along than this.

“It hasn’t been my choice. It’s been a messy two years. A lot of people missed a year due to COVID. It is what it is.”

In his best effort to make up for lost time, Yoka (10-0, 8KOs) fights for the fourth time in less than a year when he enters the ring this weekend. The 6’7” heavyweight will face Croatia’s Petar Milas (15-0, 11KOs) in a scheduled ten-round clash at Stade Roland Garros in Paris (Friday, ESPN+, 2:45 p.m. ET/expected ring walk 4:30 p.m. ET).

The bout will be the first for Yoka with a capacity crowd on hand since the pandemic. The last three bouts came under strict social distancing measures, all with Yoka and his handlers doing their part to gradually increase his level of competition. They also came after just a two-fight campaign in 2019 following a year-long suspension due to violation of drug testing policies after missing three consecutive tests as ordered by the France Boxing Federation.

In his most recent outing, Yoka managed a twelfth-round stoppage of Joel Djeko this past March in Nantes, France. Friday’s outing marks his first versus an unbeaten opponent since his pro debut when he defeated Travis Clark (12-0 at the time) in June 2017. Following a win on Friday, the expectation is at least one more fight in 2021 before making a serious run as he enters year six as a pro.

“After this, I told Top Rank and my manager J. Prince that I want someone big,” insists Yoka. “We plan to fight again in December—maybe in USA, maybe in France. We are still working on it.

“When we come out in 2022, we want a big name.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox