By Jim Dower: Undefeated heavyweight contender Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (19-0-1, 17 KOs) will be fighting against an opponent still to be determined on the undercard of the Daniel Jacobs vs. Luis Arias card on November 11 on HBO Boxing a the Nassau Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York.
There’s no word about the opponent for Miller. Hopefully for Miller’s sake, he’s got his weight down below 300 lbs. and he’s ready to start training camp in decent shape. He’s been pretty heavy lately,
This is a change of network for the 29-year-old Miller, who has been fighting on Showtime Boxing lately. But like Danny Jacobs, it looks like Miller has switched over from Showtime to HBO.
It’ll be interesting to see if this move for the 6’4” Miller can expand his fan base in boxing, and get a title shot against one of the champions in the heavyweight division. Miller is ranked #5 IBF, #6 WBA, and #6 WBO. Miller likely would have been ranked a lot higher by now if he’d stayed busy in the last year, but he took 11 months off following his 3rd round stoppage win over Fred Kassi last year on August 19, and he didn’t return to the ring until recently when he stopped former heavyweight world title challenger Gerald Washington in the 8th round on July 29.
Miller came into the Washington fight weighing a hefty 298 pounds, which was a career high for him. In Miller’s previous fight against Kassi, he’d weighed 296. Miller has been as low as 252 lbs. It’s a little disappointing to see Miller’s weight steadily increasing lately. He’s going to need to be lower if he wants to beat the top guys at heavyweight in Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
There was a point in the Washington fight where Miller took a flurry of heavy shots that had him hurt. Miller was able to weather the storm from Washington, but it wasn’t a good sign to see “Big Baby” seemingly on the verge of getting knocked out in that fight.
Miller has excellent punching power for a fighter as big as he is. If Miller can walk down Deontay Wilder and Joshua the way he’s been doing against the lesser heavyweights he’s been facing, he might be able to knock one of them out to become a world champion. You can’t deny Miller has the power and inside game to beat the top guys.
The only thing that you have to question is whether he has the conditioning. Miller is very slow when his weight is hovering in the 300 lb. range. That’s too much weight for top contender to be weighing. Deontay Wilder likes to fight from the outside. Miller isn’t capable of throwing long shots. His entire game is centered on fighting in close, and walking down his opponents.
Miller’s best career wins have come against these heavyweights:
• Gerald Washington
• Fred Kassi
• Nick Guvas
• Donovan Dennis
• Akhor Muralimov