Joshua: A Shame Miller Made Big Mistake, Missed Best Chance

By Keith Idec

Anthony Joshua was looking forward to making Jarrell Miller pay for all the trash talk Miller directed at him.

In that respect, getting ready to square off against Andy Ruiz Jr. on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden is a bit of a letdown for the undefeated heavyweight champion. He had hoped to make an impressive U.S. debut by beating up the verbose Brooklyn native in his hometown.

The 6-feet-4, 315-pound Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) failed three separate performance-enhancing drug tests late in March, which forced his removal from what would’ve been the biggest fight of his career. The complete compensation package for Miller’s side reportedly was $6.5 million for the Joshua fight, by far the biggest purse of the 30-year-old Miller.

“I felt like he had made a big mistake,” Joshua said during a conference call Friday. “He missed out on one of the best opportunities that he could have had. It’s a shame, man. Bad management. That’s why I say your management and the company you keep is so important. So, it’s a shame.”

It was Miller who claimed that the 6-feet-6, 245-pound Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) uses PEDs during the press tour to promote their fight late in February. The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association later reported that Miller tested positive for Endurobol, EPO and HGH.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, offered Luis Ortiz a $7 million purse to replace Miller on what would’ve been five weeks’ notice for the strong Cuban southpaw to prepare. Ortiz’s handlers turned down that huge payday, which led to Southern California’s Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs) accepting the biggest fight of his career on short notice.

“This journey to Madison Square Garden has had its bumps, ups and downs,” Hearn said on the conference call. “Of course, the original opponent, Jarrell Miller, failed three separate drug tests for three separate substances as he prepared to take on Anthony Joshua. Up stepped Andy Ruiz Jr., a guy who we chose because we know he comes to fight. Fast hands, aggressive style, no fear, trying to become the first-ever Mexican world heavy weight champion. This is going to be a great fight and we know this is a real threat for Anthony Joshua next week at Madison Square Garden.

“We believe that Anthony is unquestionably the number one heavyweight in the world. We know he is the biggest draw in the world, but we believe he is the number one heavyweight in the world and of course the plan, as always it has been from the debut, is to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”

DAZN will stream the Joshua-Ruiz fight as the main event of a seven-fight card from Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

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