Strike 4 For Miller
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Joshua Garcia
If for nothing else in his depressingly wasted career, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller gave us the fight of 2019 (in which he didn’t participate) and what will go down as one of boxings biggest upsets in history between Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua. However, there exists in every sport a group of players or characters the league could most likely do without, and in the sweet science that man is Jarrell Miller.
After failing yet another drug test for performance enhancing substances, Big Baby Miller’s fight scheduled for July 9th against Jerry Forrest has officially been cancelled. It’s nowhere near a surprise to see yet another significant fight in Miller’s career squashed due to a dirty test sample. Only a year removed from his missed opportunity against World Champion Anthony Joshua in his USA debut.
Interviewing former heavyweight contender and now PBC on Fox analyst Chris Arreola last year with much conviction, Chris told me he would forgive someone for almost any type of cheating in Boxing beside PED’s. Arreola explained that you are playing with someone’s life if you do that, and unlike many other sports, the sweet science of boxing is just plain and simple not a game.
Many have lost their lives in the ring and most of the time it has nothing to do with steroids, but it could. Last year, in a women’s fight that was extremely anticipated between multi-division champ Amanda Serrano and Brooklyn’s own Heather “Heat” Hardy, and after Serrano convincingly defeated her opponent, a urine sample came up positive for a type of PED.
Hardy spent much of the next month trying to prove her innocence by pleading her case as her legacy and very bright career would be washed away if such a herendous allegation were to be true. Throughout social media many commented that it shouldn’t equate to much of a problem because Hardy, the offender in question lost the fight to Serrano.
That is a very dangerous attitude and one that cannot extend to the latest transgression by Miller. What if Hardy had injured Amanda Serrano, or worse? Would it then still not have been seen as a “big deal”?
One of the biggest mistakes thus far has been even allowing Miller back in contention for any fight. There is no comeback for a man who has failed drug tests twice in the last year and once in kickboxing. What message are the sanctioning bodies sending to the boxing world about these type of blatant disrespects for not only the sport, but his fellow fighters?
A man who has no respect for another competitor trying to feed himself and his family and would risk the life and health of said counterpart belongs nowhere near a ring. That is not the type of personality and character exhbitited in the fight game and I would challenge any promoter to turn down working with anyone of this nature, not just a Jerrell Miller.
Boxing always has its way around suspensions from certain states or countries and I would not be surprised if we see Big Baby in a ring again somewhere remote, but it won’t be without a very public outcry. Boxing royalty the likes of Andre Ward has called for a lifetime ban from the sport, while his old promoter Eddie Hearn proclaimed Miller’s career over after the latest spell. If Big Baby does have a trick up his sleeve he better use it now like draw four, or he’s going to reverse back into an abyss.
Editor’s Note: Sports Editor Andrew Rosario will share his thoughts on the Miller saga next week.
