Jacobin Yoma (born 6 October 1966) is a French Guianan former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1989 to 1999, and held the European

super-featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

title from 1993 to 1995. He was nicknamed ''l'Ouragan de Cayenne'' (The Cayenne Hurricane) for the impressive speed of his hands.

Early life

Yoma was born on 6 October 1966 in

Maripasoula Maripasoula (), previously named Upper Maroni, is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of , Maripasoula is the largest commune of France. The commune is slightly lar ...

, French Guiana, as a member of the

Aluku The Aluku are a Bushinengue ethnic group living mainly on the riverbank in Maripasoula in southwest French Guiana. The group are sometimes called Boni, referring to the 18th-century leader, Boni (guerrilla leader), Bokilifu Boni. History The ...

tribe, but settled in the capital city of

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

at a young age. At the age of 13 he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and began boxing when he was advised to pick up a sport. He became French amateur champion in 1989 under coach Jacques Chinon and decided to go pro later that year.

Professional career

Yoma made his professional debut on 6 October 1989, defeating

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ian opponent Geraldo Leite by

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. In his fifth bout, he traveled to the

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and fought

Regilio Tuur Regilio Benito Tuur (born 12 August 1967) is a Dutch former boxer who was World Boxing Organization's super featherweight champion. Prior to turning professional and winning the world title, Tuur knocked out reigning world champion Kelcie Ban ...

to a

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– 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

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 Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, and suffered his first career defeat by decisive

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD). Yoma again captured the French and FECARBOX titles before he received another shot at the European crown in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

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. Four months later he lost a decision to Guyanese prospect Joseph Murray in Georgetown for the vacant FECARBOX title – his third defeat. He finally defeated Tuur on 11 June 1993 by

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

in his hometown of Cayenne to become European super-featherweight champion. 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. His last successful defense was a UD victory over former world champion Jimmi Bredahl in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

on 7 October 1994. He lost the title on 4 July 1995, suffering a UD defeat in the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

suburb of

Thiais Thiais () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. The name Thiais comes from Medieval Latin ''Theodasium'' or ''Theodaxium'', meaning "estate of Theodasiu ...

to Russian future world champion Anatoly Alexandrov. Yoma captured the French title once more the following year before retiring in 1999 with a record of 40–11–3.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Yoma is a member of the

tribe, descendants of the

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

slaves who fled from the plantations of

Dutch Guiana Dutch Guiana may refer to: * Dutch colonisation of the Guianas, the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America * Surinam (Dutch colony), commonly called "Dutch Guiana" after the loss of other large colonies in the area ...

in the eighteenth century. In 2009, he was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence in a Cayenne courtroom for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

and causing an accident that injured several people. In 2015 the Salle de Boxe Jacques Chinon et Jacobin Yoma, named after Yoma and his former coach, was inaugurated in Cayenne.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoma, Jacobin Living people 1966 births Aluku French Guianan male boxers French male boxers People from Maripasoula Super-featherweight boxers European Boxing Union champions Black French sportspeople Sportspeople from Cayenne 20th-century French sportsmen