Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, a likeable American giant whose mouth matches his waistband, claimed on Monday, with no evidence, that the world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has used performance-enhancing drugs.
The three-belt champion dismissed the claims on the second leg of what promises to be an eventful four-month campaign before they fight at Madison Square Garden on 1 June.
Miller, at 22st 7lb the biggest of the leading contenders, speaks with some dubious authority, however. The unbeaten 30-year-old heavyweight, who learned his fighting skills as a teenager in Muay Thai and kick-boxing, was suspended for nine months and fined $2,500 in 2014 when he tested positive for the banned substance, dimethylamylamine, before turning to the gloved combat that has brought him a world title shot in his home city after 24 fights against varied opposition.
Miller is clean as a boxer but reckons Joshua might not always have been – an allegation the champion denied, quietly but firmly. “Jarrell has been banned for drugs,” Joshua said, “so maybe that’s why he’s saying it.”
Miller, keen to ramp up mutual animosity with Joshua, said: “I study every opponent. My dad was a bodybuilder growing up; you can see it. I look at someone and I say, he’s on steroids. Anybody who comes out of the amateurs at 220lbs and then is 240lbs in a year, there’s something wrong with that picture.
“There’s no way you’re going to put on 20lbs of muscle within a year without taking some kind of supplement. It’s impossible. I know bodybuilders train all year round, non-stop, and don’t put on that amount of muscle.
“Now, if you look at his stature, while he’s staying at this higher level, his physique has kinda shrunk.
“We’ve both got contracts in place where we’re protected and the proper testing is going to be taking place, but it’s written clear as day.”
Joshua smiled, but not for long, when Miller’s claim was put to him. “That’s a compliment,” he said, “because, if I was, I would not even be able to fit in this shirt. I dedicate myself to training, which you can see. I have applied myself properly and they are the results. I have been training since I was 18, so that’s 11 years.
“He’s looking at my change between 2012 and 2013, but why doesn’t he look at the 11 years? At the [London] Olympics I was around 104kg. Then, when I turned pro, I was around 107kg. Now I am 115kg, so that’s 11kg in 11 years, it averages out. It’s just my dedication. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone because it’s expensive, especially the food I drink and the lifestyle and training.
“It’s not the first time this has happened, Wladimir Klitschko [whom Joshua beat in 2017] was accused of it. So, many fighters will be accused. But I get tested and, if, in the next 10 years, something was to come up then it would be a genuine mistake because I do not shove needles up my arse.
“I am on Adams [the Anti-Doping Administration & Management System] whereabouts. They have to know where I am for an hour every day. They can turn up any time during the day and that is a lifetime commitment. I have been on that since 2012 and I pay £40,000 a fight to be tested twice a week. It’s random drug-testing all year around.”
When they faced off for the first time in New York last week, Miller livened up proceedings for the cameras by pushing Joshua almost off his feet, but it did little more than alert the Watford fighter to the task ahead. The battle lines have been drawn and will stay that way, says Joshua.
“I don’t really get along with the guys I fight and always find it weird that you can build up a fight and then kiss and cuddle after, even after saying all sorts of stuff for six or seven weeks. I don’t really get involved in that.”
Miller brings an interesting back story to the fight – born in Brooklyn, raised intermittently in Belize, where he shared a house with 15 relatives – although fans will have to be convinced that he is good for anything more than a colourful quote.
It is difficult to dislike him and it will equally be hard to believe that any of the tough talk between now and fight night is anything more than part of the big sell.