By: Sean Crose
He was one of the more interesting fighters on the heavyweight scene. A confident, outspoken New Yorker who could turn out the nights at a moment’s notice. Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller was unquestionably a fighter to watch in a newly invigorated, post-Klitschko heavyweight division. Then came a scheduled bout against heavyweight multititlist Anthony Joshua in Joshua’s American debut. Miller tested positive for a banned substance before the bout, meaning that his chance to become a world titlist was gone. Andy Ruiz replaced Miller as Joshua’s opponent – and bested Joshua in exciting fashion. Now, five years later, Miller will be facing Ruiz Saturday night on the undercard of the Terence Crawford – Israil Madrimov pay per view card.
With both Miller and Ruiz in need of an impressive win, the question becomes : Can Big Baby make a comeback? A lot of that will depend on him, of course, as well as on Ruiz. It’s worth remembering that Miller once again tested positive for a banned substance after the Joshua fiasco. This has led fans to understandably question just how good the man is. He lost his last fight, after all, getting stopped by Daniel Dubois back in December.
It’s worth noting, though, that Dubois is a top level heavyweight and a single loss is back to being considered just that, rather than a career destroyer, as it had (ridiculously) been in recent years. “I work hard,” Miller says. “Don’t get it twisted. When I’m in that gym I’m busting my ass. The Dubois fight woke up a demon in me man, it woke up a demon in me that I haven’t seen in awhile and come August third I’m beating Andy Ruiz up.”
Ruiz, of course, has other ideas. After losing the heavyweight titles he won against Joshua in a rematch that went down that same year, the Californian has fought little. Like Miller, Ruiz knows how important a win this weekend is. “I know that he’s coming hungry,” Ruiz says of his opponent. “I know he wants to win, but so do I. I want to win, I’m hungry and I’m motivated. I’m physically ready and prepared. Let’s do this!” Although there are no guarantees in boxing, it should be a safe bet that these two hard hitting heavyweights will have an interesting throwdown this weekend in Los Angeles. “One thing about me,” says Miller, “I’ve never run from a fight. I never have and never will.”