By Elliot Foster
Anthony Joshua came face-to-face with Jarrell Miller for the first time at a press conference in New York.
The pair will clash for Joshua’s WBA Super, IBF, WBO and IBO world titles on June 1 at Madison Square Garden.
Joshua was originally meant to fight at Wembley Stadium on April 13, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN Stateside.
But after the right fight could not be pushed over the line for that date, the former Olympic champion will take on ‘Big Baby’ on the same platforms.
The presser, predictably tense and taunt-fuelled, saw Miller anger Joshua by shoving his chest during their initial head-to-head on Tuesday.
“You’ve got no idea – I breathe and eat and sleep Anthony Joshua,” Miller, who is undefeated in 24 fights and was last in action in November, said. “I’ve got a picture of him of my screensaver, I’ve got a picture of him on my wall. I wake up in the morning and I think about Anthony Joshua.
“This is bigger than boxing, bigger than belts, bigger than me. I’m playing by nobody’s rules and the sooner you understand that you get to know the kind of man I am.”
Miller was chosen as AJ’s next foe in the wake of failed negotiations for fights with WBC champion Deontay Wilder, former unified king Tyson Fury and ex-British champion and WBC number one-rated challenger Dillian Whyte.
Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, believes Miller's behavior was a ploy to shake up the British star on a mental level.
"I think it's a ploy. I think it's probably a smart one," Hearn told Sky Sports. "Not overly tactical, but a ploy to get Anthony rattled, to get him to come to fight.
"We saw it, Dillian Whyte did the same thing in their fight. I know Anthony won that fight, but he was rattled, he fought like a maniac in that fight, and I think that's what Jarrell wants.
"Jarrell wants Anthony to come here and unravel."
