The 34 year-old battled Wilder for eleven rounds in September 2015, marking up the rangy American more than any opponent before him, before being taken out with just five minutes of the fight remaining.
Manager Mehdi Ameur has informed WBN that Duhaupas will have a ten rounder on February 5 at the Gymnase du Lycee Technique de Monaco before moving on to a fringe WBC title chance and another boost up the rankings.
“Johann is ready to make his comeback after fighting against Deontay Wilder,” Ameur told World Boxing News.
“He is training in Montpellier (South of France) with the new trainer Daniel Barry who has good experience with heavyweight fighters.
“I have negotiated with the WBC that Johann will fight for the WBC Silver title in April, so it is important for Johann to get winning again as he will return to Monaco just two months later. After April, we hope to have an opportunity to go for another world title or a defence of the silver title in September.
“We have to work fast as Johann will only have two or three years’ maximum left in boxing before he will stop his career.”
Ameur also stated that some promising talent will fill up the undercard in Monaco.
“I have a young boxer Mohamed Kani who is 6-0 and is still learning, but he is a very good fighter and he has big ambition. Also, I have Vahram Vardanyan (15-0-1) and he is ready for a big fight, maybe even the WBC Silver or a title similar. Then there is Ghanaian Obodai Sai, who will also be part of that event.
“All my boxers have big dreams to win the WBC belt, so that is the route we take and they train hard to be ready when the opportunity comes,” he added.
