By Allan Fox: Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller was supposed to be fighting next month against Jerry Forrest on July 9, but unfortunately, the 300+ pound heavyweight tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs recently, and that contest is now off.
The undefeated heavyweight Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) says he shouldn’t receive a lifetime ban from boxing. He is willing to agree to a suspension.
Facing a suspension and a horde of boxing fans calling for a lifetime ban, Miller vehemently denied using PEDs knowingly during an interview on Tuesday.
Miller says his team is investigating how he may have ingested the substance, GW1516, which he tested positive for. If they do an excellent job of finding an over the counter product that is sold in the U.S that Miller used, then perhaps he can avoid a suspension.
This is one of three banned substances that the 32-year-old Big Baby Miller also tested positive for last year when he was scheduled to face Anthony Joshua on June 1.
The other two PEDs Miller was popped for last year were HGH and EPO. Miller’s positive tests caused him to be replaced for the Joshua fight by Andy Ruiz Jr., and that was a contest that would have paid him $5 million.
Miller says VADA knew about the product
During an interview with the Fight Network this week, Miller said that GW1516 isn’t a steroid. That’s true. Unfortunately, GW1516 is still considered a PED, and it’s one of the banned substances that fighters aren’t permitted to use. Miller saying GW1516 isn’t a steroid doesn’t get him out of the hot water he’s in right now.
“Why in the hell would you think I would go back and do something repeatedly, knowingly, before I’m coming back in my return fight, after the financial setbacks and the hardship I’m dealing with in my life?
“I want the general public to think about that,” said Miller to the Fight Network.
“This item was listed. It was listed through my lawyer. VADA does know about this product that was ingested. It was before the fight was even scheduled.”
Whether VADA knew about the PED or not ahead of time, it doesn’t help Miller get out of this situation he’s in right now. That doesn’t help him. When fighters test positive for a PED, that’s what the Commissions will go by. If Miller is saying that he ingested the GW1516 without knowing, that’s not going to help him.
Canelo Alvarez tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol, which he later blamed on eating contaminated beef in Mexico. The Golden Boy star still was suspended.
Big Baby sees no reason for a lifetime ban
“I should not be banned,” Big Baby Miller said. “I’m prepared to accept my suspension, and I’m willing to do monthly testing through my suspension, but to be banned for life? No, you’re out of your mind.”
Miller doesn’t need to worry about a lifetime ban because there is nothing of that kind handed down in boxing. Fighters that test positive receive suspensions, and they’ll always be given more chances.
It won’t be the end of Miller’s career that he tested positive for a second time, but it’s going to make it difficult for him to come back. If Miller is released by Top Rank, a major promotional company that signed him last January, that will hurt his career.
There’s going to be other promoters that will want to sign Miller, and they’ll try and build him back up slowly. What will hurt Miller is if he receives a year suspension for his lastest positive test. Losing a year would be bad for Miller, given that he’s already been out of the ring for 19 months since his last fight in November 2018 against Bogdan Dinu.
Let’s assume that the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspends Miller for 12 months; that would mean that he would have been out of the ring for close to three years before he’s eligible to fight again. Muhammad Ali missed three years in the prime of his career when he failed to be indoctrinated into the armed forces when he was drafted in the 1960s.
Miller isn’t Ali in terms of talent, and it’ll be harder for him to come back from a three-year layoff to resume his career.