By Trevor McIntyre: Undefeated heavyweight prospect Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce (4-0, 4 KOs) called out unbeaten heavyweight contender Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (21-0-1, 18 KOs) on Tuesday, hoping to get the American to agree to a fight against him straightaway. The 6’6”Joyce is willing to fight Miller in his hometown of New York.
It would take a lot of courage from Miller’s promoter to agree to the Joyce fight. If Miller loses to Joyce, then he can forget about a fight against Anthony Joshua. On the flipside, if Miller beats Joyce, then it makes the Jacobs fight that much bigger. Miller would become a name in the UK if he defeats Joyce. Right now, Miller isn’t well known in the UK, because he’s been fighting only in the U.S against fighters like Johann Duhaupas, Mariusz Wach, Fred Kassi, Gerald Washington and Nick Guivas. Joyce would likely be the best fighter that Miller will have faced.
Joyce said this on his social media today:
“Big Baby Miller, I know you’re being avoided. So am I. I’ll come to your backyard in Brooklyn. I am just a 4-0 novice. Big Juggernaut vs. Big Baby. Let’s dance.”
Joyce is being moved quickly by his management to get him a world title shot. There was talk of Joyce fighting the winner of the Sam Sexton vs. Hughie Fury fight for the British heavyweight title. But with Joyce now calling out ‘Big Baby’ Miller, it looks like he’s interested in going after the top contenders now. Joyce should call out Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz as well. If he can’t get the Miller fight, then Ortiz would be a good option. A win over Ortiz would give Joyce a top 5 in the heavyweight division.
Joyce would have to be viewed as the favorite to beat Miler, who has been looking less than impressive lately. This fight makes sense if Miller’s promoter wants to build for a much bigger fight between ‘Big Baby’ and Anthony Joshua in late 2018. However, the chances are very high that Miller would lose to Joyce and possibly get knocked out. Both heavyweights are high volume punchers, who have heavy hands. The different between them is Joyce is more mobile, and he throws shots from many different angles. Joyce is the better body puncher, and he has the better jab. The 6’4” 300 lb. Miller has better hand speed, but he’s slow on his feet and stationary most of the time.
The 2016 Olympic super heavyweight silver medals Joyce has been looking like a young George Foreman since he turned pro in late 2017, knocking one guy out after another. In Joyce’s best performance to date, he stopped Commonwealth heavyweight champion Lenroy Thomas in the 2nd round last Saturday night on May 5 on the undercard of the Tony Bellew vs. David Haye II card at the O2 Arena in London, England.
As good as Joyce was in that fight, he could have gotten into the ring and did a number on Bellew if he’d been given the opportunity on the night. Joyce looked like he would make easy work of Bellew. Of course, Bellew would never fight a young fighter with the size, power and the work rate of Joyce. It would be a good match if Bellew were interested in taking a risk against a younger heavyweight.
Miller is one of three options for IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s next fight in the summer. Miller is not likely to get the fight though, as Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants either Wilder or Povetkin as Joshua’s opponent. Miller will likely get a shot at Joshua later this year. Miller is part of Hearn’s plans of trying to turn Joshua into a big star in the U.S. Hearn believes that a Joshua vs. Miller fight in Brooklyn, New York would create a lot of interest from the American boxing fans. It might not. Miller has looked horrible in his last two fights against Johann Duhaupas and Mariusz Wach.