Heavyweight contenders Fabio Wardley and Jarrell Miller had to be pulled apart as tempers flared to formally announce their June 7 fight.

Wardley, the WBA’s No. 1 contender, and Miller, ranked No. 4 by the same organization, will contest the WBA Interim title. The regular title is held by Kubrat Pulev and the full title is owned by Oleksandr Usyk.

The show, at Portman Road, home of Wardley’s favorite soccer team, Ipswich Town, has been called Running Towards Adversity, and neither went out of their way to avoid it today.

“It’s my hometown, born and bred, Ipswich boy, nothing’s being taken from me here.

“This ground is hallowed turf. This is where I’m strongest,” said Wardley, who said the choice of venue will bring him “more fire, determination and output”. 

The Englishman added: “I become undeniable when you put me on that pitch. Then, aiming his gaze at Miller, Wardley said: “You talk about you’re avoided, no one wants to fight you, I picked you. I picked your name. I looked at the list and I picked your name. Let’s pick that one, let’s teach him a lesson. I pick you.”

Miller said he had been riled over a “diss track” that Wardley had made, with Wardley allegedly making a song that he would be “Big Baby Killer”, a play on “Big Baby” Miller’s nickname, but Miller snapped: “Where I come from, that’s a death threat.”

Wardley, however, denied knowledge of any song, but Miller wasn’t having any of it. He stood up again and was again restrained. “Now you woke me up,” the American said.

Again, the fighters were seated to take questions from the assembled media 

“Ultimately, we’re here to fight,” countered Wardley. “I’m not afraid of no man. I took him on for a reason. He said he’s avoided, no one wants to fight him, he took the Dubois fight on short notice… Fair play. And you put on a half decent performance. I picked you. I’ve given you full notice, full camp, full time. Come prepared, come ready, because there’s no allowances, there’s no excuses. I’m giving you everything you say people don’t give you. You say people don’t give you the opportunity, here’s your opportunity. You say people don’t give you the camp, the time to prepare, you’ve got all that as well. Even just to sweeten the deal, I’ll throw in an interim belt in there for you as well. You’ve got everything you need.”

A fired-up Miller, wearing a shirt of Ipswich’s local soccer rivals, Norwich – with Going Down 25 on the back – talked about “disrespect behind closed doors” and charged: “There’s a reason I was avoided for many years. I had one slip up with Dubois, I had three weeks’ notice for that, but like I said before, I’m a killer. No matter where I go. Real warriors travel everywhere. I’ve been in people’s backyards before whoopin’ ass… I’m a fuck you up. Plain and simple. 

“I don’t mind doing the gimmicks and the fun stuff, but I don’t play. I don’t play the sport. This is what I do. I was bred for this shit. He’s never been in the ring with someone like me.”

Then, addressing Wardley’s claims about giving him a chance, Miller replied: “Let’s get something straight, he’s not giving me the opportunity, I’m giving him the opportunity. Outside of Ipswich and England, nobody knows who the hell Fabio Wardley is. They know who ‘Big Baby’ is.” 

Miller stood up to get in Wardley’s face, Wardley then rose and they were soon separated and Miller was restrained. It caused a delay at the press conference but they took their seats again and Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren tried to restore calm. 

That happened a couple of times as the bad blood threatened to boil and organizers talked about how the fight had now been sold by the antics.

Wardley is 18-0-1 (17 KOs) and scored a destructive knockout of Frazer Clarke in his last fight. Previously, he and Clarke had shared 12 violent rounds in a bout that resulted in a draw, and a 2024 Fight of the Year contender.

Despite his past infractions for performance enhancing drugs, Miller is now in another big fight having fought Daniel Dubois at the end of 2023, losing via a 10th round stoppage, before drawing with Andy Ruiz last August.

The 36-year-old New Yorker is 26-1-2 (22 KOs) and, upon seeing the Portman Road turf for the first time, Miller commented: “Perfect place to knock someone the fuck out.” 

Wardley and Miller had gone head-to-head on Saturday night in Manchester at the Co-op Live Arena after their fight was announced.