Heavyweight hopeful Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) redeemed himself with a destructive tenth round knockout victory over Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs), ending the fight in the final seconds on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Miller gave Dubois something to think about in first four rounds, putting pressure on him, and landing hard shots with 333 lbs of weight behind him. Dubois was using a lot of movement, and that sapped a lot of the strength that he would have normally had on his punches.
Dubois slowly wore Miller down by connecting with hard jabs, punches to the body, and overhand rights that drained the massive fighter. In the eighth and ninth rounds, Miller was beaten up by Dubois.
The final burst
Not content with winning a decision, Dubois poured on the gas in the tenth round, unloading with massive power shots, hurting Miller throughout the round. In the final seconds, Dubois teed off with heavy shots that knocked Miller into the ropes.
The referee, Michael Alexander, stepped in and stopped the contest to save Miiller at 2:52 of round ten.
The 26-year-old Dubois made a statement with this win, as he showed courage to deal with nonstop pressure from Miller, who continually walked him down the entire fight despite having nothing left in the tank.
Miller’s fading form
Miller was totally exhausted by the tenth, with blood leaking from a cut lip a look of fatigue on his face. He had taken a career’s worth of punishment from Dubois, getting hit with shots that would have knocked out anyone in the heavyweight division.
‘Big Baby’ Miller had Dubois looking anxious through the first four rounds, pressuring him, walking through his punches, and landing shots that he clearly didn’t like.
Things went downhill for Miller by the seventh, as he began looking tired, throwing few punches, and his power gone. Dubois took advantage of Jarrell’s fatigue to land huge shots.
In the eighth, Daniel hurt Miller with a right hand to the jaw that snapped his head sideways, sending him backward a step. For the first time in the fight, Miller backed off and looked like he was trying to collect himself. His lip was bleeding, and he looked gassed out and hurt.
Coming off a knockout loss in his previous fight against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk, Dubois wanted to show fans that he’s not the quitter that they thought he was, and he showed that tonight.
Early on, Dubois took more shots and harder punches from the 333-lb Miller than he had in his ninth round knockout loss to Usyk, but he was in better condition and more prepared for a war this time around.