By Keith Idec
UNIONDALE, New York – Jarrell Miller has no problem fighting Dillian Whyte next to get to his heavyweight title shot against Anthony Joshua.
The confident contender from Brooklyn would prefer facing Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), WBC champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) or WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) the next time he steps in the ring. Miller realizes, however, that he’ll have to wait his turn and is willing to earn his championship chance.
The 6-feet-4, 283-pound Miller (20-0-1, 18 KOs) has stopped onetime championship challengers Gerald Washington (18-2-1, 12 KOs) and Mariusz Wach (33-3, 17 KOs) in back-to-back bouts, but wants to add Whyte’s name to his resume. Miller, who’s co-promoted by Dimitry Salita and Greg Cohen, also is working with Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter.
Hearn said following Miller’s win against Wach that Miller is “probably one or two steps away” from fighting Joshua.
“The biggest fight right now is Deontay and AJ,” Miller said during a post-fight press conference early Sunday morning. “We already know that. Respectfully, OK, cool. They should fight. OK, fine. The next fight on the table for me that makes any sense for me would be Dillian Whyte. If Joseph Parker wants to make his [live HBO debut], Joseph Parker. Those two would be fights, realistically, that would make sense for me at this point. Who are they really fighting? Joseph Parker fought Hughie Fury, who I know didn’t deserve a title shot. But, you know, his promoter knows who’s who and got him a title shot.”
The Jamaican-born, London-based Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs) was made the No. 1 contender for Wilder’s title by the WBC last week. Whyte defeated Finland’s Robert Helenius (25-2, 16 KOs) by unanimous decision in last fight, yet wasn’t particularly impressive on his way to that 12-round victory October 28 in Cardiff, Wales.
“I think Dillian Whyte should come see me,” Miller said. “I think that’d be a great fight. And then the winner of that get AJ or Deontay. I think that’s actually fair, even though I already fought top-10 contenders and these guys ain’t fighting nobody. But I would like that fight to happen. Get it out the way and then I get the winner of that. Or I’ll take Joseph Parker. But ain’t nobody gonna call me out right now, man. It is what it is. I know Joseph Parker. He a punk. He just came in super-sloppy against Hughie Fury. I don’t know what the hell he was doing in that fight. He should’ve stopped him, but it is what it is.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.