Jarrell Miller’s career can still be rebuilt, according to his promoter Dmitriy Salita.
The disgraced heavyweight lost his undefeated record in December when he was stopped by Daniel Dubois in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the same evening on which Otto Wallin, Salita’s other leading heavyweight, fought Anthony Joshua and was also stopped.
Miller, 35 and from New York, served three drug bans before he was presented with the biggest opportunity of his career since 2019 — the world heavyweight title fight with Joshua that didn’t happen because he tested positive for GW501516, a metabolic performance enhancer.
Before being installed as Dubois’ opponent he fought, in a largely overlooked occasion, Lucas Browne, but Dubois’ profile is such that during fight week there were vulgar suggestions that Miller and Joshua ought to still fight.
That Miller not only lost but was stopped by a fighter whose reputation had also suffered in defeat by Oleksandr Usyk made his options even more limited. Boxing is far from a sport that consistently punishes those for brushes with the law but a month later Miller was arrested in Florida for allegedly body slamming the employee of a car dealership, potentially leaving him even more stranded than he was before.
“It is,” Salita responded when it was put to him that it is a long road back Miller is faced with. “It was a fight for him to win, and he didn’t really show up and do what we felt he could. It’s to Daniel Dubois’ credit, and [Dubois’ trainer] Don Charles — they fought an incredible fight.
“When I thought Daniel Dubois would break he didn’t break. When the going got tough he got going — so, much credit to him for being in incredible condition. Jarrell put a lot of pressure on him; was 100lbs heavier than him. That’s a lot to deal with. He did a great job.
“Jarrell is fighting his way back into shape. If he can maintain peace outside of the ring and stay focused, with a win or two he can get a shot at one of the big guys again.”
When asked about potential opponents Salita mentioned Deontay Wilder, who also lost on the same night as Miller and Wallin — against Joseph Parker, jeopardising plans for Wilder to fight Joshua.
“[Miller would] like to be able to come back in May or June,” the promoter continued. “There was some conversation about him fighting on the March 8 [Joshuna-Ngannou] show, but what happened, happened. He couldn’t travel, and he had to recover from the fight with Daniel Dubois.
“So yeah, May, June — the heavyweight division is competitive because everybody is fighting everybody. Which is great. Jarrell and Deontay Wilder may be an interesting fight — they’re coming off sub-par performances. So I do think that there’s big fights out there for Jarrell. He only has one loss in the ring, so he definitely deserves another shot. Daniel Dubois, on paper and in the ring, is the best fighter that he’s fought.
“My hope is that he learns from the experience, gets better, and comes back and gives it another shot. At the end of the day, it’s up to Jarrell. He has talent; he has personality. He’s getting opportunities, so it’s up to Jarrell to put his best foot forward to be the best he can be.”