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Sink or swim for an overlooked Olympic champion: Tony Yoka vs Johann Duhaupas, September 25.

Olympic superheavyweight gold medallist Tony Yoka (7-0, 6 KOs) will face-off against fellow Frenchman Johann Duhaupas (38-5, 25 KOs) in Paris on September 25. The fight represents a potential kickstart to Yoka’s quest to the lucrative top end of the division.

Ranked 11th by the IBF, the Olympic champion will be looking to add to his run of five straight knockout wins in search of bigger names and fights.

Duhaupas, the man in his way is a former world title contender with experience against high class opposition. He has shared the ring with none other than Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs), Alexander Povetkin (36-2-1, 25KOs) and more recently the controversial Jarrell Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs).

Though at 39 the old pro’s best years are behind him. His last fight was a win to little-known Luis Pascual (15-6, 13 KOs) who himself had lost four of his previous five fights. The younger 6’7” Parisian will be looking to land a rock-solid win inside the distance if he is to add weight to his name with Bob Arum’s Top Rank showing keen interest in him.

Having pipped Joe Joyce (11-0, 10 KOs) to gold four years ago, Yoka has arguably not gathered nearly as much expected momentum in the professional ranks as his counterpart. However, the Frenchman has in only seven professional fights fought relatively recognisable names. He has defeated each of David Allen (18-5-2, 15 KOs), Alexander Dimitrenko (41-6, 26 KOs) and Michael Wallisch (20-4, 13 KOs) without needing the judge’s scorecards.

The 28-year-old requires a resounding victory to continue building his career should he successfully join the growing number of big-name, big-earning heavyweights and ultimately earn a world title shot.

Earlier this month Tyson Fury tweeted an interview with Max Kellerman in which he called the Parisian heavyweight “one for the future that’s for sure”. Yet the WBC champion did concede that he “looks a little bit fragile” and that he has not “seen him under a real test so far”.

Consequently, this upcoming fight represents a sink or swim scenario for Tony Yoka. He still has much to prove. A convincing victory will go to help set him up on his path to the top. A loss will be a huge setback to say the least.