Tony Yoka: 'Joe Joyce not very technical or fast'

French boxer Tony Yoka is aiming to silence Team GB's Joe Joyce when the two meet in the semi-finals of the super-heavyweight competition on Thursday.

Yoka, 23, beat Ireland's Dean Gardiner in the quarter-finals and will represent a bigger challenge than Joyce's previous opponents, Lithuania's Mantas Valavicius or Moldova's Alexei Zavatin.

"He's tall, he's got power, he's not very technical or fast but he works, works, works," Yoka told reporters. "He doesn't stand and wait so I must be physically ready to box him.

"He's a little bit like Gardiner, but a little bit more technical and a harder puncher."

"My own strengths... speed, technique and I've got a good eye in the ring. I see when an opponent is looking to punch me and I quickly move away."

The two sparred together in Germany a couple of years ago before the 2013 World Championships, but this will be the first time they have met in competition.