Do you know this hero boxer of a brave, courageous, honest, tough and tough universal saga who is not afraid of anything?
You know that man who trains with three pieces of old-fashioned string in a sweat-and-pain gym that we love?
In real life, his name is not Rocky but… J ohann Duhaupas: “The Americans indeed call me the
French Rocky
and that suits me very well, that suits me.
I started boxing after seeing one of his films, ”says the native of Abbeville (Somme).
Johann Duhaupas has been dragging his gloves on all the rings around the world for more than 20 years.
Like his model on screen, he is a boxer respected by his people.
He remains the one Deontay Wilder failed to knock out, holding 11 rounds against the fury of the former world heavyweight champion.
🥊 #YokaDuhaupas
🗓️ Friday September 25
🏟 @ParisLaDefArena
📺 @canalplus pic.twitter.com/wuAtN82UlC
- CANAL + Boxe (@CanalplusBoxe) September 23, 2020
But he is unknown, only coming to light on the occasion of his fight this Friday evening (live on Canal +) at the Paris La Défense Arena against Tony Yoka.
At 39, it was about time: “To my misfortune, I did most of my career at a time when everyone didn't give a damn about boxing, he regrets.
She was never on TV, no one talked about it.
Who was interested in Duhaupas?
No one.
I would have preferred to have known me before as a very high level heavyweight.
I had to go around the world to make my record.
If I had boxed at another time, I would have become the first French heavyweight to be world champion.
I am sure.
"
A Prime Minister once spoke of “France from below”.
Duhaupas comes from there, from this nation that works and gets up early.
The one to whom life never gives a gift, but who works like a madman to get by without expecting anything in return.
Child of four brothers, a forklift driver father and a mother's assistant mother, Johann Duhaupas worked for a long time in the factory as a turner in a plastics factory.
"I was not a child who had confidence in him, not at all even, entrusts the tall guy (1m95), cut like a Greek statue to take up the challenge Tony Yoka.
As a teenager, I was playing a
Mortal Kombat
video game
.
There was a guy inside that I identified with: the
Reptile
.
He was powerful, dangerous, ready to challenge anyone.
When I fell asleep at night, I put myself in the shoes of this character.
I adopted his nickname which stuck with me.
"
"I wanted to take a break and Yoka got me drunk"
It's easy to mount the Duhaupas-Yoka opposition as the showdown between the reckless old lion and the talented new star.
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
The two men have known each other for 10 years.
They helped each other in their preparations at some point in their careers.
They respect each other, hate each other and will one day end up becoming close by heating up on social networks and not competing in the ring.
“I have a business to settle with this fight, slips the Reptile.
At one point, I wanted to take a break from boxing and take care of my wife who was expecting a baby.
You should know that before her birth (in 2019), she had three miscarriages.
I said basta to boxing to take care of her.
I said it and that's when Tony came to provoke me.
It got me drunk.
I was never afraid of him, never!
Now we're going to fix this and hit each other in the face.
"
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Johann Duhaupas (@johann_reptile_duhaupas) on Aug 28, 2020 at 2:23 pm PDT
The assault is planned in 12 rounds, a format that Yoka will discover.
Duhaupas is certain that he will not go to the end: one of the two will end up on the ground: "It is one of the last fights of my career, I am aware of it and I do not want to disappoint", said the Abbevillois who is already thinking about what to do next.
He is embarking on the “WinWinSport” project to help sports licensees in their purchasing power.
A conversion to the image of the character: endearing.