By Per Ake Persson
French heavyweight Johann Duhaupas (32-3) takes on Brazilian contender Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (18-11) on February 5 in Monaco.
This is 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 comes 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.
