Anthony Joshua’s latest defence of his heavyweight titles was supposed to take place at Wembley Stadium in April, but those plans were put on hold when promoter Eddie Hearn failed to tie down a big-money fight with either Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte or Tyson Fury, and instead ‘AJ’ will now make his US debut at the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York city on June 1, and he will do it against unbeaten American Jarrell Miller.
‘Big Baby’ spent early years of his boxing career crossing back and forth between the ‘sweet science’ and the world of kickboxing, but in 2014 he called time on his kickboxing career to focus solely on boxing and since that date he has reeled off 10 straight wins to take his unbeaten professional record to 23-0-1 with 20 victories coming via knockout. However, you would be hard-pressed to find a notable name on his record so you cannot help but feel like he is merely being used as a punching bag for Joshua to make a successful first showing on American soil. ‘AJ’ himself appears to feel that way.
“I’m going to knock him out on June 1, there is no doubt about that,” Joshua told reporters. “He’s an ex-kickboxer who punches like a fairy. He’s the softest puncher in the heavyweight division. I’m confident that I’ll ram my jab down his throat and I’ll knock him out. The only way I feel that Jarrell could actually win is just by a lucky punch – that’s all he’s got.
“I could hype him up, but I’ll keep it real. Miller can’t punch, he hasn’t got that much of a good work rate. I’ve done my stats and facts – I throw more punches than Miller. He hasn’t done anything as a fighter in the amateurs or as a professional and he’s coming up against a true fighter so we’ll see what happens. That’s why I don’t think he can beat me on his best day. There’s no fairy tale story about what I do - the stats and facts show. I’ll beat him and knock him out.”
Miller, of course, disagrees and claims the champion will “crack like an egg” in his first fight on foreign shores.
“This is going to be bully season,” he said. “He's bullied for all the right reasons. This is the boxing business, this is the hurt game, so ain't nothing humble about this or nothing nice about this game. This is about hard work and doing whatever you can do to win the fight. The realness is going to come out. Once that contract is signed, all gloves are off.”
So who will be the ‘King of New York’ and leave as world heavyweight champion when the verbal jabs are swapped for real punches on June 1?
Joshua may claim that Miller punches like a “p***y”, but with 20 stoppage wins in 23 victories the American has shown some sort of stopping power and we have seen a few times that the champion can be wobbled. This is heavyweight boxing and it would be reckless of him to write off the power in Miller’s fists and recklessly charge forward – he and his team will almost certainly recognise that.
That is why I expect Joshua to use that jab, just like I said he would, to take full advantage of his four-inch reach advantage and wear down the challenger who, let’s be honest’ will not have the gas tank to go 12 rounds against an elite-level fighter. Joshua will pick apart the challenger for several rounds, and then detonate one of those big bombs in the second half of the fight that turns the lights out on “Big Baby”. Then we can all get back to hoping that he, Hearn, Wilder, Fury and everyone else who matters can finally deliver the heavyweight fights fans really want to see.