By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn says Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (22-0-1, 19 KOs) is a possibility for Anthony Joshua to fight on April 13 if Deontay Wilder doesn’t take the fight with him and if his backup option Dillian Whyte loses his December 22 rematch against Dereck Chisora. Last Saturday night, Hearn told the boxing media that Whyte vs. Chisora II will get made for December 22, and Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook will get done for March of 2019.
It’s scary to think of Miller facing Joshua on April 13 if Whyte doesn’t get the fight, but that’s what Hearn is talking about. It appears that Hearn doesn’t plan on offering the Joshua fight to Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs) if he beats Whyte on their December 22 fight at the O2 Arena in London, UK. I guess a fight between Joshua and the 35-year-old Chisora wouldn’t sell in the UK. Joshua-Whyte 2 won’t interest American boxing fans, and it’s hard to imagine the UK wanting to see those two fight again. It’s a fight that helps Hearn, because he promotes Joshua and Whyte, but it’s just another retread fight as far as boxing fans go.
Hearn states that Miller, 30, is a big name in the UK, and that he would be “mobbed” if he went there to fight. Hearn says Joshua vs. Miller would be a huge fight for the boxing fans.
“I’d say Whyte is the favorite [to fight Joshua on April 13] if Wilder doesn’t take the fight,” Hearn said. “If Whyte gets beat, then he [Miller faces Joshua on April 13. UK fans follow boxing religiously. So what we’re doing with DAZN, UK fans are saying, ‘When is DAZN coming to the UK?’ They follow all the guys, all the DAZN cards are in the UK, and he’s [Miller] a big [name in the UK]. On Sky, yeah. If he came to the UK for a fight, he would get absolutely mobbed,” Hearn said about Jarrell Miller.
Either Hearn doesn’t know the boxing public or he’s simply talking up a fight between Joshua and Miller out of self interest. I mean, it helps Hearn’s Matchroom promotion if he puts two of his guys together, because he doesn’t need to reach out and share the promotion with another promoter outside of his company. Miller is one of Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA DAZN stable fighters. The U.S fans aren’t crying for a fight between Joshua and Miller. The only guys American boxing fans want to see Joshua fight is Deontay Wilder and Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz. In other words, two guys that Hearn has shown zero interest in wanting to match against his money fighter Joshua.
Miller, 6’4″, is really slow and lethargic at 300+ pounds, and he’s not looked good in many of his fights against fringe level opposition. Gerald Washington almost knocked Miller out in the 5th round last year, and former heavyweight world title challenger Johann Duhaupas gave ‘Big Baby’ all he could handle earlier this year in April in going the 12 round distance with him. Yeah, Miller looked great in beating Tomasz Adamek by a 2nd round knockout in his last fight earlier this month on October 6, but that was against a 41-year-old fighter, who is past his well prime and doesn’t belong fighting at heavyweight. Adamek’s best weight class was light heavyweight.
Hearn seems to think that U.S boxing fans will be excited at seeing one of their own fighters in Miller facing Joshua. What Hearn doesn’t know is casual boxing fans in the States have no idea who Miller is, and wouldn’t recognize him if they saw him on the street. From the hardcore fans perspective in the U.S, they don’t want to see Miller face Joshua. They want Wilder vs. Joshua. Miller is seen as more of an undercard lower level fighter by the fans, and not someone that they’re interested in seeing fight anybody. Miller vs. Shannon Briggs would be a good evenly matched fight that some of the hardcore fans in the States would like, but that’s about it.
“I think it will be the next mandatory,” Hearn said to Fighthype about the WBO being the next mandatory for Anthony Joshua to take. “Next is the WBO mandatory. He just did the WBA mandatory [against Alexander Povetkin]. Dillian Whyte is #1 [with the WBO],” Hearn said.
Hearn seems to believe that the World Boxing Organization is going to make Whyte the mandatory for Joshua, as if it really matters. It really doesn’t matter if the WBO makes Whyte the mandatory to Joshua or not. As long as Whyte beats Chisora in their rematch on December 22, then Hearn is going to match him against Joshua on April 13 next year. That’s a fight that you can count on getting done. We don’t know if Whyte will beat Chisora though, because he lost to him last time they fought in December 2016. The judges gave Whyte the victory, but he lost that fight by a mile in the eyes of the boxing fans. Here’s the thing. Assuming that the WBO makes Whyte the mandatory to Joshua for his WBO belt, it gives Hearn cover for him making the Joshua-Whyte 2 fight on April 13. Hearn can bark at the fans about how the WBO has made Whyte the mandatory for Joshua when he matches them together on April 13 instead of setting up the Joshua-Wilder fight, which is the match that the fans want to see. Hearn can tell the angry fans, ‘The WBO just made Whyte the madatory for Joshua, so I had to make the fight to satisfy AJ’s mandatory.’ The fans will then pipe down, and not give Hearn grief for making a retread fight that they have zero interest in seeing between Joshua and Whyte.
“December 22, it looks like,” Hearn said about Whyte facing Dereck Chisora in a rematch on the 22nd of December at the O2 Arena in London, England.
It was obvious that Hearn was going to make the Whyte vs. Chisora II rematch. Hearn didn’t have a Plan-B option for Whyte to fight on December 22 for his Sky Box Office fight at the O2 Arena in London. Although Hearn spoke of wanting to possibly match Whyte against Luis Ortiz or Dominic Breazeale, it appears that the only option all along was Chispra. The reason for that is Chisora is more beatable, and there would be fewer chances of Whyte losing to him than there would be if he fought a talent like Ortiz or Breazeale.
“Dillian is good to go on April 13,” Hearn said about Whyte being the likely opponent for Joshua to fight on April 13 at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. “He’s got to win his fight [against Chisora] first, and then you’ve got the IBF. Pulev won it tonight. So he’ll be after that, and then the WBA will be after that. So you’re talking about two years before you get a shot at your mandatory,” Hearn said.
I don’t know why Hearn even bothers to talk about the possibility of him not making the Joshua vs. Whyte fight on April 13, because its so clear that he’s got that fight already scheduled. Unless Chisora knocks Whyte out on December 22, he’s going to go down to a second defeat against him. I don’t give Chisora any chance of beating Whyte by decision. Chisora is the B-side, and he’ll be in the same position he was the last time he fought the more popular Hearn fighter Whtye. Now that it’s clear that Whyte is the guy that Joshua will be fighting on April 13, it’s likely going to take a knockout for Chisora to get the win over Dillians.
“Jarrell [‘Big Baby’ Miller] is a guy that he Joshua] would pick,” Hearn said about Joshua wanting to face Miller. That would be a big fight. That’s a big fight. If Joshua debuted in America, that’s a big fight. So he’s a perfect guy, but he’s also tough to beat. He’s not an easy touch. People talk about his weight,” Hearn said about Miller weighing over 300 lbs for his fights. “That’s an asset for him. When he can move like that, when he’s got that fitness, [he’s tough to beat,” Hearn said.
