The July 29 fight between Mikey Garcia and Adrien Broner is an excellent match-up, but the card just got even better with the addition of the heavyweight match-up that is unbeaten contender Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller against recent WBC title challenger Gerald Washington.
The vocal, entertaining and powerful Miller, 18-0-1(16) has fans talking, wondering just how good the New Yorker really is, and a fight with the once-beaten Washington, 18-1-1(12) might give us a little bit more of an idea. Washington gave WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder a decent enough test back in February, doing well until getting caught by something big in round five. Can Miller also stop the 35 year old who came to boxing quite late in life?
With his MMA background and his total self belief, Miller, aged 28 and a massive guy at around 280 pounds (for his last fight, a corner retirement win over the tricky Fred Kassi in July of last year) could be, quite literally, the next big thing in the heavyweight division. We need to see Miller, who has been compared by some to the great Riddick Bowe, tested and tested hard. The Washington fight is certainly a step in the right direction, at the very least; especially considering Miller’s disappointing 11 month inactive spell.
It will be interesting to see if Miller has the same problems with Washington’s jab as Wilder did. Two big men who have similar records and can punch, Miller-Washington is the sort of solid match-up that adds a good deal to a card. A distance fight could take place, but Miller really needs to be scoring as many KO’s, ideally eye-catching ones, as he can as he continues to try to both win over the fans and earn a world title shot.
This one could be fun, and Washington (who deserves credit for taking this fight right after his loss to Wilder) cannot be written off. A Miller win has to be the pick, however, even if there could be some heavy-handed trading taking place before “Big Baby” picks up his nineteenth pro win.