It’s now t minus one month until Joshua’s debut in America. The trouble is he is also minus one opponent, his loquacious adversary having failed three drug tests. To fail one drug test may be regarded as a misfortune; to fail two looks like carelessness; to fail three…. it’s a job to know what to call that.
Several boxers have come unstuck with the strictures of pre-fight blood tests; Miller however sets himself apart in that he failed for a different reason each time. While others have their substance of choice, the Brooklynite appears to have been on a cocktail of narcotics that even Hunter Thompson might have balked at. At first he cloaked himself in strenuous denial. However, overwhelmed by accumulated exposure, he offered a piteous mea culpa. Universal censure followed. The only ones yet to abandon him are his promoters, who rather eccentrically attribute his pariah status to his Afro American descent. In the words of Doctor Evil: “Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight”.
In retrospect it seems hardly surprising; how a 300 pound man was able to fight with a sustained frenetic intensity was the cause of bafflement. No longer. The fact he had the temerity to accuse Joshua of partaking of illicit substances turned out to be a projection of his own modus operandi. Classic hypocrisy. What is more perplexing though, is that, according to his own account, he was the one who insisted on a random drug testing protocol for the fight. Why he should have taken aim so squarely at his own feet and pulled the trigger is anyone’s guess. Most likely he thought the substances were out of his system by the time the drug testing began. Perhaps he is simply not too well furnished in the top story. Whatever the reason, it goes to show that, love him or hate him, Mayweather was on to something all those years ago. Doping is clearly endemic in the boxing world.
The upshot is auditions for the role of Joshua’s dance partner are now open. Foremost in the reckoning are Michael Hunter, Andy Ruiz and Luis Ortiz. It looks like Ruiz is most likely to land the gig. Eddie Hearn seems to be betraying a preference for him over Hunter. Ruiz is no slouch but he fights in a simpler fashion than Hunter, an elusive boxer puncher with a penchant for giant slaying. Joshua’s team will be aware of the threat he poses and will likely favor Ruiz as presenting better prospects for an entertaining fight and yet, paradoxically, less risk of upsetting the apple cart.
And while one former kick boxer defames the sweet science, another restores some of its luster; Dillian Whyte, whose rejection of Joshua’s offer precipitated the latter’s decision to make his American debut, has recently committed to fighting Oscar Rivas. Since his last and only defeat, Whyte has become decidedly old-fashioned; he’s been active and taken consecutive dangerous fights. Thankfully this re-emergence of the pure spirit of competition in boxing is catching on, and it’s fighters like Dillian Whyte who are to thank for it. Rivas is unknown to the wider public and his fame is scarcely any greater among committed boxing fans. Evidently Whyte has a zeal for fighting and desire to perfect his skills. For that he deserves praise.
Bravo Dillian.