Former long-reigning heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has revealed his toughest ever opponent in a surprising admission.
The 39-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama made his long-awaited return to the ring back in June, stopping countryman Tyrrell Anthony Herndon in the seventh round of their non-title heavyweight clash at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita.
Wilder had suffered back-to-back defeats to former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and China’s Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang prior to facing Herndon, leaving fans and analysts wondering whether ‘The Bronze Bomber’ would fight again.
He previously held the WBC heavyweight title between 2015 and 2020, making ten successful defences of his crown before he was eventually dethroned by Tyson Fury in the second of their three encounters.
With Fury and Zhang serving as the only two men to have stopped Wilder, most people may believe he deems them to be his toughest rivals, but he doesn’t share the same view.
Speaking on a livestream with N3ON, Wilder revealed his toughest ever opponent to be durable Frenchman Johann Duhaupas in a shock claim.
“Hardest person I had to fight so far? I wouldn’t even say hardest, I would say the toughest was a Frenchman named Johann Duhaupas and he was tough. I had fought him in my hometown and I thought it was gonna be a slightly easy fight but he came armed and ready.
“When you get a fighter that is just mentally like ‘I don’t care where I am whether it’s my backyard, your backyard, it’s gonna be a fight’ that’s what he brought, that momentum, so I always say that the toughest of the tough.”
Wilder faced Duhaupas in what was the second defence of his WBC heavyweight crown back in September of 2015, stopping his French rival in the penultimate round of their clash at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Duhaupas finished his career with a record of 39 wins and 7 defeats, having also shared the ring with the likes of Alexander Povetkin and Jarrell Miller.
