By Jeff Aranow: Undefeated heavyweight contender Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (18-0-1, 16 KOs) wants to impressive his hometown fans on Saturday night by knocking out former heavyweight title challenger Gerald Washington (18-1-1, 12 KOs) in their fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Miller vs Washington (Live Stream Link) is taking place on the undercard of the Adrien Broner vs. Mikey Garcia card. However, the Miller vs. Washington won’t be televised on the Showtime card. Boxing fans can view the fight on Facebook Live and Youtube. Miller, 29, won’t get the chance to have his fight televised on the main card along with the Broner-Garcia fight, but if he does a good job in defeating the towering 6’7” Washington, he could potentially work his way to fighting on television on Showtime.
Miller will probably need to fight more than once a year though. It’s kind of hard for a heavyweight – or any fighter – to make a name for himself if he;s only fighting once every 11 to 12 months like the 6’4” Miller.
Miller, ranked #6 WBO, #7 IBF, #7 WBA, hasn’t fought in almost a year since his win over journeyman Fred Kassi last year on August 19, 2016. Miller stopped Kassi in the 3rd round with body shots.
“I can’t wait to get in the ring in my hometown. There’s going to be great energy and great excitement on Saturday,” said Miller. ”I’m in killer mode right now but inside I’m jumping for joy.”
On Saturday night, Miller will be facing his best opponent by far in his short 8-year pro career. Washington is diamond in the rough when it comes to boxing skills and ability. At 35, Washington is still improving. Miller must make sure that he applies a lot of pressure on Washington for him to win his fight. If Miller lets Washington stay on the outside and box, he’s going to find it a nightmare to deal with him.
Washington is superb at using his tremendous 6’7” height and reach to dominate his shorter opponents. The 6’4” Miller might not seem like a short fighter, but he is next to Washington, Miller will be giving away 4 inches in reach along with 3 inches in height. Up until now, Miller has been the taller fighter in his bouts. He’s going to need to make some adjustments on Saturday to deal with Washington’s height and reach if he wants to get to his chin.
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” had problems with Washington’s size in their last fight earlier this year on February 28. Things weren’t going well for the 6’7” Wilder in the first 4 rounds, as Washington was able to use his long jab and fast hands to control those rounds. However, Wilder went after Washington in the 5th round and hurt him with a big right hand to the head. He then finished him off after he got back to his feet. Wilder won the fight, but he showed that he wasn’t comfortable fighting a guy his own size in Washington.
Supposing that Miller also has problems with Washington’s size, we could see a minor upset on Saturday. I wouldn’t say it would be a major upset, because Miller is still an unknown commodity in terms of his talent and potential. If Washington beats Miller, then it will only prove that the New Yorker was just a big talker but not a great talent.
One thing that gives you an indication that Miller might not be the real deal is the fact that he wasn’t scooped up initially at the start of his pro career by one of the giant promotional companies like Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank. For them to not sign Miller right out of the gate is a red flag. It suggests that he might not be as good as he talks. Miller arguably talks better than he fights.
To be sure, Miller is a good basic heavyweight with excellent power and size, but he’s lacking in the speed and mobility department. That’s not surprising through, as Miller has been tipping the scales from 255 to 296 in the last 2 years. There’s been a tremendous fluctuation in Miller’s weight, and he doesn’t seem capable of keeping his weight at a steady level like most fighters.
”Gerald Washington is a good opponent for me coming back from a layoff,” said Miller . ”Most people wouldn’t go right into a fight so challenging. I’m warrior-built. I’ve been doing this for a long time. My main thing is to go in there and knock him out. However the knockout comes, it comes. This is boxing so anything can happen in there. Deontay Wilder is different than me. I’m going to show that on Saturday. I hope that I can get a fight with Deontay Wilder after this one. If he’ll come to New York, then even better. I think my progression is ahead of where he was. We’re going to keep fighting, getting knockouts and eventually a world title fight.”
It’s going to take more than Miller knocking out Washington for him to get a title shot against Deontay Wilder. Miller is going to likely beat a better fighter than fringe contender #15 WBC Gerald Washington for him to get a title shot against Wilder. Without Miller being a huge name in the U.S, it’s not worthwhile for Wilder to fight him. There’s no money in a fight with Miller compared to if Wilder faces IBF/WBA champion Anthony Joshua or WBO champ Joseph Parker. Those are the guys that Wilder is looking to fight.
Miller should keep fighting and try and become Wilder’s mandatory challenger. That’s the best bet for Miller. However, for Miller to get the No.1 spot with the World Boxing Council, he’ll likely need to beat someone like Luis Ortiz or Dillian Whyte. Those are top 5 ranked contenders in the WBC’s rankings. At the present time, Miller isn’t even ranked in the WBC’s top 15. That’s not good news for Miller if he’s serious about wanting to fight Wilder. It could take years for Miller to achieve a No.1 ranking with the WBC. By that time, Wilder probably won’t be the WBC champion. Miller is better off going after Anthony Joshua or Parker. At least in the IBF, WBA and WBO rankings, Miller is ranked in the top 10. That gives him a good chance of one day in a couple of years to grab the No.1 spot if he can beat the right type of opponents. Joshua is the type that would give a guy like Miller a shot in a voluntary defense, but it’s probably going to take more than beating Washington for him to get a title shot against the British fighter.
“I’m just looking to keep focused on Saturday,” said Washington. ”I’m going to fight hard from bell to bell to get the win. Miller is a big tough guy. We expect that from him. We’re in his backyard so I know he’s going to come in 100 percent. We’re here to handle business. All I’m thinking about is Jarrell Miller and taking him out.”
Washington has been talking about how he’s improved since losing to Wilder last February. This will be a good chance for him to show that against Miller. If Washington truly has improved, then Miller is going to be in serious trouble on Saturday night. An improved Washington might be too much for Miller. Washington is hard to hit when he’s fighting shorter guys, and if Miller can’t get to his chin, he’s going to be getting jabbed all night long. Washington has a quick and powerful jab, and his punching power is underrated. It’s doubtful that Washington will be looking to trade with a slugger like Miller though. It’s more likely that not that Washington will use his long jab and stay at range to control the shorter Miller for the entire fight. Miller is going to need to trap Washington along the ropes for him to land his big power shots. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to do that.
