Heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller is claiming that his positive drug tests from 2019 were nothing more than a misunderstanding.

Last year, Miller was scheduled to fight IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in June at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

Miller was replaced by Andy Ruiz on short notice. And Ruiz pulled off one of the biggest heavyweight upsets in the history of the weight class - when he dropped Joshua four times to secure a seven round stoppage.

Miller's drug tests, which were administered by VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency), came up positive for GW501516, EPO and HGH.

"Hard work is number one, there are no shortcuts - but sometimes you are going to get lazy and you don't do your homework and that's when it's going to cost you - like it did for me. You've got to ask tons of questions, be careful who you surround yourself with and who you deal with, be 100 percent genuine and honest with yourself and your mistakes to get better and to be better," Miller explained to BonusCodeBets.co.uk

"You need to know when to move from certain situations to the next, and always putting yourself in a positive frame of mind, because negativity only draws negativity. And the more you are around negative people and negative energy the more you're going to be brought down.

"We were going to train all the way from January to June to get ready for AJ, but I was dealing with a recurring issue with my elbow. I was dealing with VADA and going to see their specialists and doctors, I was seeing two different specialists and a psychiatrist that VADA wanted me to go see to make sure whatever I was taking was a part of the protocol."

Miller stated that his pursuit to deal with an old injury was the direct cause of the positive tests, because he came up positive in the aftermath of receiving a stem cell shot.

"It was an injury I had for a long time. I just wanted to be 100 percent for the fight, 100 percent healthy, so we looked at alternatives to get things done and one thing led to another. I was seen by the doctors and by the time I got signed off to do certain things towards the injury I took a stem cell shot, which is known to have healing properties that are very strong and that's when we had the positive tests of those components," Miller said.

"I begged for a third test after the other drug compounds that came out - a week before, I was a clean guy. That's when I came out said this is where I got it from. And it was a big misunderstanding, but people on my team will understand that. But when you don't have a conversation with someone and they go straight to the camera like what Eddie did - it's bad. It makes the fighter look bad.

"I was heartbroken when I first got that information. I called VADA, I called the doctors and said: listen, this is what's going on. They could tell you, I was open throughout camp, what I was doing, all of my supplements and even they were kind of shocked because I was so vocal on doing the right thing. But that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. It was a learning experience and it taught me a lot about myself, the people that I have around me."

As BoxingScene.com recently reported, Miller was very unhappy with some of the critical comments that were made by promoter Eddie Hearn - and the big heavyweight is also unhappy with some of the statements that were made by other boxers.

"There are certain athletes in the boxing game that use my name. If you can't say it to my face, I know you're a punk. 99.9 percent of the people you see in the boxing world would never look my way and say something to my face - that's the kind of characters they are," Miller said.

"A lot of fighters that were talking junk; Andre Ward, Billy Joe Saunders, Tony Bellew, Deontay Wilder and Hearn. A lot of fighters were running their mouth who didn't know sh-t about this situation. Deontay was running his mouth and his brother got popped for something. Like I said before, I wouldn't jump to conclusions and you got to do your homework.

"When Dillian White got in trouble I said: don't jump to conclusions you got to do your homework. 99 percent of fighters are talking straight bullsh-t and they have no structure in what they're saying. I am number two in the world, the only reason I am not number one is because I don't have no belt, I know I am a better fighter than all of these guys. I'm better than AJ, I'm better than Tyson, I'm better than Deontay, I only call myself number two because I don't have that belt. I'm going to be world champ.

"I always try to be someone who I would look up to, but what I've learnt is: if you understand where the bad guy is coming from, that's when you understand life. Because nobody on top of their game is really the good guy, they may look like the model citizen, but there's always something going on.

"Where I come from 80 percent of the time the villain always wins, because when you do everything by the book, you leave your hands tied - you have to be that person who sees outside the box.

"If multi-millionaires play by all the rules, they wouldn't be where they are at - so with some of these promoters like Eddie Hearn, they say these crazy, outrageous things, they don't play by the rules all the time. That's a fact."