The WBC heavyweight champion of the world Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama defends his title this Saturday. The opponent will be Johann Duhaupas (32-2, 20 KOs) of France. The venue location will be the legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. This is the second defense of his world title for Wilder and second consecutive time for him defending his title in Birmingham. The bout will be another edition of Al Haymon’s Premiere Boxing Champions series (PBC). The fight card will be aired on NBC.
The announcement of Wilder fighting Duhaupas was not met with a lot of enthusiasm. The main reason was that most mainstream fans have not heard of the Frenchman and expected Wilder to be fighting a more well known contender. Wilder is in no position to look past any challenge. Wilder got all he could handle in his first world title defense this past June versus Eric Molina. Wilder was in control of the fight but was rocked a few times by Molina. Wilder would go on to stop Molina in round 9.
The 6′ 5″ Duhaupas is coming off of his career best win defeating former world title challenger Manuel Charr this past April. Duhaupas’ style is that more of a boxer than puncher. This could make for a dull affair if Wilder is not able to get to him. This is not to say that Wilder can throw caution to the wind when going on the offensive. Molina was not thought to be a big puncher either but was able to get Wilder’s attention.
Duhaupas has two losses but has never been stopped. Wilder stopping him inside the distance would at least have him become the first to do so. Wilder needs to shine in this fight as it may be his last fight at this level of competition before facing mandatory Alexander Povetkin. Wilder winning a dull decision will not do much for his momentum heading into such a huge showdown with Povetkin. Wilder just winning likely won’t be suffice in the eyes of the viewing public. A dazzling knockout victory would carry much more weight.
