Jarrell Miller: Takam Too Small, Not Enough Power to Beat Joshua

By Keith Idec

As a potential opponent for Anthony Joshua, Jarrell Miller will pay close attention Saturday to Joshua’s title defense against Carlos Takam.

The outspoken heavyweight contender from Brooklyn doesn’t expect to watch too competitive of a fight, though. The undefeated Miller dismissed Takam’s chances of pulling off a huge upset in Cardiff, Wales, during a conference call Thursday to promote his own November 11 fight against Mariusz Wach.

Miller gave Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs), who was replaced by Takam last week due to a shoulder injury, a better shot at beating Joshua than Cameroon’s Takam (35-3-1, 27 KOs).

“It’s sort of a stroke of bad luck on Pulev’s part, because I thought it would’ve been more of an interesting fight,” Miller said. “I feel like Takam is definitely nowhere near up to par. You know what I mean? Maybe he’ll do good for two, three rounds – if that. He’s too small, he doesn’t have enough punching power, you know, he stands kind of straight up. But he is a guy that kinda comes forward. But I don’t feel like he’s [a threat] for Anthony Joshua at this point.”

The 6-feet-4, 298-pound Miller (19-0-1, 17 KOs) gladly would’ve stepped in on short notice to replace Pulev. He’ll settle for topping Poland’s Wach (33-2, 17 KOs) two weeks from Saturday night (HBO) and challenging England’s Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) at a later date.

“Like I said before, they knew I was getting ready for a fight,” Miller said. “I didn’t get the phone call, but it is what it is. They know what I’m gonna bring to the table and what I’m gonna ask for and what I’m gonna do. So hey, I don’t know what’s next or who’s next at this point. But like I said, my main thing right now is focused on knocking Wach out, whupping his behind and we’ll take it from there.”

The Joshua-Takam match will be broadcast from Principality Stadium by Sky Sports Box Office in the United Kingdom (£19.95) and Showtime in the United States (5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.