Miller served a two-year ban from the sport (Picture: Getty)
Jarrell Miller, the unbeaten American who spent four years in boxing purgatory, is looking to get a career many had chosen to forget about back on track.
The Brooklyn heavyweight might just very well be the most unpopular man fighting on the card when he takes on Daniel Dubois as part of the star-studded show in Saudi Arabia on 23 December, sharing the bill with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder on a wild night of boxing two days out from Christmas.
It will be just his fourth fight in five years – circumstances very much of his own making having served a two-year ban from the sport in 2020 after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
Before that, he missed out on the biggest opportunity of his career to date when his fight with Anthony Joshua on home soil in New York was scrapped after he failed three separate drug tests. For those offences, he escaped with a meagre six-month ban.
Joshua would go onto lose and regain his world titles against Andy Ruiz Jr while Miller spent the next few years in the wilderness. Since being cleared to return he has fought unknowns Ariel Esteban Bracamonte and Derek Cardenas before knocking out the spent Lucas Browne in March this year.
Boxing is haunted by tragedies that have taken place in the ring with careers ended and lives changed in an instant. Miller has insisted he has never taken a substance for ‘performance-enhancing purposes’ but in a world where people have been seriously hurt, a repeat offender will not get much sympathy.
A fight against Dubois presents him with another opportunity to force his way back into the world title conversation with there is still perhaps unfinished business between him and Joshua. But his presence on the card two days before Christmas has not been universally welcomed.
Miller fights Daniel Dubois on Saturday’s card in Saudi (Picture: Getty)
With Miller arriving brash, loud and confident, Joshua had little time for his one-time rival during their heated exchanges at last month’s press conference, renewing hostilities after touching down in Riyadh this week.
Eddie Hearn has also clashed with ‘Big Baby’, while heavyweight contender Frazer Clarke last week wrote for Metro the American should not have been welcomed on the card, insisting his previous transgressions mean he shouldn’t be allowed to jump the queue when it comes to securing the biggest fights in the sport.
Failed drug tests and accusations of doping have marred boxing with Miller’s case one of the most prominent in recent years. But there have been significant efforts behind the scenes to rebuild and rehabilitate the Brooklyn fighter’s tarnished image.
His promoter Dmitriy Salita has stood by his man, securing his place on the card in Saudi this weekend and believes his fighter has served his time.
‘We have always believed Jarrell has the personality and skills to be a real player at the top of the heavyweight division,’ Salita told Metro.co.uk via BestGamblingSites.
‘I have known Jarrell since he was a kid. I know the guys who have trained him, some of them, not all of them. You do your best with somebody. I have that relationship with Jarrell, I can talk to him. But what happens outside of your vision, you have no control over.
‘He was out of the ring for four years. I believe that drug use should be punished in boxing, PED use should be punished to the full extent of the law and there is no room for that in the sport of boxing. This is a sport where people get hurt.
Salita has stood by his fighter after past mistakes (Picture: Getty)
‘But Jarrell did the crime and served the time. But once you serve the time, you have got to be given the ability to work. And to perform. Because if you don’t you may as well just be suspended for the rest of your life.’
Miller’s rap sheet has not been brushed under the carpet leading up to fight night. At last month’s press conference, Frank Warren assured media there would be Voluntary Anti-Doping testing for every fighter. Earlier this month, Miller shared documentation from VADA appearing to confirm as much, suggesting he has been tested five times in a period of seven days.
‘He did his time and it important for him to get another opportunity to prove himself,’ Salita continued. ‘To show he has changed, and that he is focused and he really wants to be the best. I worked tirelessly to be able to help deliver that opportunity. We had a couple of close calls and I’m very grateful this one came together. I believe the best version of Jarrell will show up and take care of business.’
Joshua and Miller were set to fight in 2019 (Picture: Getty)
Eddie Hearn saw his best-laid plans for Joshua’s New York debut destroyed when Miller tested positive for three different substances back in 2019. Over the years, the Matchroom chief has insisted he would prefer not to work with Miller ever again.
Hearn and Matchroom have had no involvement in Miller’s meeting with Dubois. While part of the same bill, the Saudi show on 23 December brings together a number of different promoters with Salita working with Warren and Queensberry Promotions, who promote Dubois, to get Miller on the card against the former world title challenger.
Fraught relationships are common in boxing but with Saudi’s financial backing anything is possible. The sight of Hearn and Warren last month shaking hands in the corridors of Wembley Arena to put aside a promotional rivalry that has dominated British boxing is the proof of that. Hearn himself has suggested he could make the Miller fight if Joshua pushes for it but old wounds still haven’t healed.
Frank Smith not convinced Matchroom can do business with Miller (Picture: Getty)
‘It is hard in boxing, there have been so many questions asked if we would work with him again. I think we have always remained quite consistent, saying probably not,’ Matchroom CEO Frank Smith said.
‘It has been four years since the incident. When it comes to us, we have a very close relationship with Anthony Joshua and there were many things that went on in the build up to that fight. If it was ourselves, it would be a struggle to work with him again. We are not involved in that fight and I do think the relationship is tough, let’s be honest.’
Joshua is in action against Otto Wallin on the same night, hoping victory will finally pave the way for the long-awaited showdown against Deontay Wilder next year.
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But the very genuine hostility the former Olympian holds for Miller could present another chapter between the two, should the latter cause a shock and beat Dubois.
‘You can see the fireworks,’ Salita added. ‘The animosity is still there. These two guys in a room, it is bound to spill over. If they can continue to be victorious I believe that fight will inevitably happen.
‘If Jarrell can perform at a high level and pass all the tests with the various governing bodies and beat an elite fighter like Daniel Dubois, I believe he slips right into those big fights against Tyson Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk. He’s an American, Brooklyn-raised heavyweight with a big personality. If Jarrell can show he can perform at that level, I believe he will slide right into those fights.’
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Miller takes on Daniel Dubois on the star-studded Saudi Arabia show this weekend.