Initially, this column was intended to be a post-feature covering two Heavyweight bouts taking place on April 25th taking place in two different countries. As some might know, however, the scheduled bout between former WBO World Cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie and Tony Yoka, which was to take place in Paris, France, was cancelled in the days prior to the bout due to Okolie having been found to have tested positive for what was described as an “Adverse Finding" in randomized prefight testing conducted by the Voluntary Anti-doping Agency (VADA).
With that fight being cancelled the focus shifted to Las Vegas, NV where Heavyweight contender Jarrell Miller met undefeated contender Lenier Pero in a twelve round WBA Heavyweight elimination bout at the Fontainebleau Hotel and Casino. It can be viewed as the most unintentional of coincidences that one fight that depending on one's perspective, which would have gotten significant attention, was cancelled due to a fighter testing positive for an adverse finding, and the focus shifted to Jarrell Miller, a fighter who has seen his own career negatively impacted over the years due to the subject of testing positive for banned substances, resulting in a lengthy hiatus from active competition, and has seen his career stall in the years since his return in 2022.
In his previous outing prior to his encounter with Pero, Miller literally lost his toupee in the midst of battle in his fight with Kingsley Ibeh in January of this year. While some may view it as something that one would not want exposed publicly, particularly in Madison Square Garden and it turned into what is known today as a viral moment, Miller boldly threw the out into the crowd and pounded his way to a hard fought ten round split decision.
In making the most of that unique circumstance, Miller now proudly showing a bald head entered this fight with the unbeaten Pero looking to continue building momentum. It seemed as though it would be a difficult task in going against the former highly decorated amateur, who had scored knockouts in eight of his thirteen professional wins.
The perception that Pero would create a difficult task for Miller to overcome seemed to be gradually manifesting in the first two rounds as Pero consistently beat Miller to the punch and seemed to get the better of the combat. It was in round three that things started to tip in Miller's favor as he started to gradually use his over 300lb. frame to walk Paro backwards and force the fight to be fought in close. With the tempo of the combat shifting towards Miller, it set up the definition of a *Fight In A Phone Booth.” By definition, a fight fought exclusively in close where there was not much room to move.
Although this set up obviously created a narrow space, it resulted in a grueling battle that Miller got the better of for the remainder of the scheduled twelve round bout, resulting in him earning a convincing twelve round unanimous decision. In some ways, this fight resembled Miller's previous outing against Kingsley Ibeh in that it was a grueling encounter where Miller had to grind tooth and nail to get a victory. While this bout was void of knockdowns and the type of highlights that would turn heads, it was a competitive give and take battle and Miller’s victory here did serve in continuing to build momentum.
As for what's next for Jarrell Miller, what was billed as a WBA Heavyweight elimination bout will not likely result in him getting a world title shot in the immediate future due to current Unified World Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk being scheduled to defend the WBC portion of his unified crown against former Kickboxing World Heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven in May. Despite the WBA world title, which Usyk also holds not being on the line in that upcoming title defense, the logical route for Miller in the short-term would seem to be to remain active and try to continue building momentum towards the eventual goal of fighting for a world title. The circumstances, which led to Miller losing his opportunity to fight for a world title when he was in line to fight then unified world champion Anthony Joshua in the summer of 2019, the lengthy absence that followed, and some stumbles along the way since his return, could very well turn into one of the best redemption stories the sport of Boxing has seen in recent times. A story that will obviously continue to evolve with time.
“And That's The Boxing Truth.”
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