By Carlos Boogs
French heavyweight Johann Duhaupas (33-3) returned to ring with a dominating ten round unanimous decision over Brazilian contender Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (18-12) at the Gymnase du Lycee Technique de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. All three judges saw it 100-90.
This was Duhaupas first fight since losing to WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder in September of last year at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Duhaupas extended Wilder for eleven rounds (and had Wilder's left eye almost swollen shut) before the fight was stopped. Prior to that, he had an upset decision win over Manuel Charr in April.
Nascimento came in as a replacement for Russian fighter Denis Bakhtov and is a known quantity in Europe after losses to the likes of Tyson Fury, Dereck Chisora, Carlos Takam and Dillian Whyte. He fought Chisora last September in London (ironically on the same day as Duhaupas-Wilder) and he took the British contender the entire ten round distance.
As for Denis Bakhtov, he is on a two year suspension after a positive doping test.
