Jarrell Miller fights in the HBO televised co-headliner on Saturday night at Barclays Center, where the Brooklyn product hopes to position fo a crack at unified king Anthony Joshua.
Miller (20-0-1, 18 KOs) takes on France's Johann Duhaupas, (37-4-0, 24 KOs), and Joshua will be watching. It's the roughly 300-pound ''Big Baby'' and not Deontay Wilder who could end up with the next fight against Joshua, the unbeaten British superstar who holds four belts.
Miller has heard the talk of a potential Joshua match but said he's seen no paperwork about it, so isn't worried about the possibility.
''I can't think about nothing else past Saturday right now except whooping this guy's behind,'' Miller said. ''That's all that matters to me. 'It's going to be fun. 'I'm not just the Brooklyn champ, I'm the people's champ.''
A Joshua-Wilder unification match is the biggest that can be made in the heavyweight division, but as usual with boxing, the sides may opt for a detour rather than the straight line. That could send Joshua to an interim bout against Miller while he raises his profile in the U.S. in case a Wilder bout takes place outside his native Britain, where he has fought all 21 professional bouts.
In the meantime, Miller said he's blocking out all the talk - even if nobody else is.
''I know he doesn't believe it, but what we all we can do is say that Jarrell Miller against Joshua is a fight we're very interested in. If we're going to come to America, that's a fight that would definitely appeal to us,'' promoter Eddie Hearn said.
''I think if has a commanding performance against Duhaupas, why not make that fight happen? But listen, whether he takes it or not is up to Jarrell, and whether he believes it or not, is up to him as well.''
The brash Miller expects to deliver the commanding performance against Duhaupas, who was stopped by Wilder in a 2015 fight.
''I think the main thing is just make him feel something he's never felt before,'' Miller said, ''a big guy that comes forward and hits him everywhere to make him just realize that eventually he's going to break down, that he's in a war for his life.'
"There’s been a lot of talk about my next fight but I’m not worried about that, I’m just looking to fighting Duhaupas, beating him and taking it from there. Hard work, dedication and cheeseburgers.”
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