Dmitriy Salita realizes some fans and maybe even Eddie Hearn himself don’t want Jarrell Miller to get another opportunity to fight Anthony Joshua.
Salita, whose company co-promotes the besmirched Miller, has nevertheless made it known that the undefeated heavyweight contender wants to fight Joshua on August 12 at O2 Arena in London. Now that rival Dillian Whyte apparently isn’t an option for Joshua’s next bout, Salita has contacted Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, about the possibility of rescheduling a Joshua-Miller fight.
Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs) was supposed to challenge Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) for his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles in June 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, but that fight was scrapped in April 2019 after Miller tested positive for four banned substances. England’s Joshua instead fought another American, Andy Ruiz Jr., who dropped Joshua four times and upset him by seventh-round technical knockout.
“Jarrell has been in the gym and he wants to do it,” Salita told BoxingScene.com. “It should’ve happened, could’ve happened and he wants to do his best to make it happen. I know there’s lots of different opinions about it, but Jarrell’s job is to make himself available for these big fights. Whether they happen or they don’t happen is outside of our control, but it’s certainly something that he wants to explore.”
The feeling might not be mutual in part because Miller failed yet another test for performance-enhancing drugs in June 2020, a few weeks before he was supposed to fight Jerry Forrest at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. Miller served a two-year suspension following that PED ordeal and was dropped by co-promoter Top Rank Inc., but he is 3-0 since he resumed his career nearly a year ago.
The 34-year-old Miller most recently stopped Australian veteran Lucas Browne (31-4, 27 KOs) in the sixth round March 18 at Agenda Arena in Dubai.
His history of PED use notwithstanding, Salita considers Miller a sensible opponent for Joshua’s return to the ring.
“Based on the response on social media and from reporters that have been reaching out to me and to Jarrell, you know, it has some legs in terms of public interest,” Salita said. “Some people like it, some people don’t like it. They like the fight, but some people, you know, feel some type of way about what happened. And I’m not here to say anything about that, only the fact that in boxing we have rules and, you know, Jarrell served his time that was appointed to him by the commission, more than three years [for the two instances of PED use].”
Like Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs), whom Joshua stopped in the seventh round of their December 2015 bout at O2 Arena, Miller has history with the British superstar. The brash Brooklyn native also remains undefeated and would singlehandedly promote their fight by talking trash and antagonizing Joshua.
“It seems that Joshua wants a meaningful fight,” Salita said. “A fight with Dillian Whyte would be interesting because of Dillian’s personality and their history. There are some similarities here. Jarrell and AJ also have history. And Jarrell obviously is an outspoken American personality. So, his job is to make himself available and voice the fact that he wants to make it happen. And the rest is outside of our control.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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