He was nicknamed l'Ouragan de Cayenne (The Cayenne Hurricane) for the impressive speed of his hands.[2]
Early life
Yoma was born on 6 October 1966 in Maripasoula, French Guiana, as a member of the Aluku tribe, but settled in the capital city of Cayenne at a young age.[3] At the age of 13 he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and began boxing when he was advised to pick up a sport.[4] He became French amateur champion in 1989 under coach Jacques Chinon and decided to go pro later that year.[4]
Professional career
Yoma made his professional debut on 6 October 1989, defeating Brazilian opponent Geraldo Leite by points in Cayenne. In his fifth bout, he traveled to the United States and fought Regilio Tuur to a majority draw – the first blemish on his record and the first matchup in their trilogy. In the next year, he picked up both the French and WBC FECARBOX super-featherweight titles as he continued to rack up wins. On 14 June 1991 he faced a 37-year-old Daniel Londas for his European super-featherweight title in Reims, and suffered his first career defeat by decisive unanimous decision (UD).[5] Yoma again captured the French and FECARBOX titles before he received another shot at the European crown in Rotterdam on 3 December 1992, falling to Regilio Tuur by way of points in front of a crowd of 7,000 that included John de Wolf and Jules Deelder.[6] Four months later he lost a decision to Guyanese prospect Joseph Murray in Georgetown for the vacant FECARBOX title – his third defeat.[7]
He finally defeated Tuur on 11 June 1993 by split decision in his hometown of Cayenne to become European super-featherweight champion.[8] Over the next two years he successfully defended the European belt on four occasions, with the first three taking place in the hot humidity of Cayenne.[2] His last successful defense was a UD victory over former world champion Jimmi Bredahl in Copenhagen on 7 October 1994.[9][10] He lost the title on 4 July 1995, suffering a UD defeat in the Paris suburb of Thiais to Russian future world champion Anatoly Alexandrov.[11] Yoma captured the French title once more the following year before retiring in 1999 with a record of 40–11–3.
Yoma is a member of the Aluku tribe, descendants of the Maroon slaves who fled from the plantations of Dutch Guiana in the eighteenth century.[3]
In 2009, he was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence in a Cayenne courtroom for driving under the influence and causing an accident that injured several people.[3]
In 2015 the Salle de Boxe Jacques Chinon et Jacobin Yoma, named after Yoma and his former coach, was inaugurated in Cayenne.[4][12]
