Disgraced heavyweight boxer Jarrell Miller has claimed his most recent failed drugs test is down to a sexual performance pill he’d been using.
The undefeated American had been given another chance after serving a six-month suspension under the WBA for failing multiple drugs tests ahead of his world title showdown with Anthony Joshua last year, only for his comeback fight against Jerry Forrest in July to be cancelled due to another positive test for a banned substance.
It was Miller’s fourth failed test in 12 months and several figureheads in boxing called for a lifetime ban to be issued after his license was temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).
The substance in question was GW501516 – often used illegally to aid endurance and boost aerobic power – which Miller had also tested positive for along with EPO and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) ahead of his scheduled fight with Joshua in 2019.
Jarrell Miller has claimed his latest failed drug test is down to a sexual performance pill he took
Miller said he ingested a Blank Ant King sex pill 30 days or more before he failed the drug test
The undefeated American lost out on a career-high payday to fight Anthony Joshua last year after failing three drugs test – including one for GW501516, which he failed again for this June
Sportsmail has seen documents sent to Miller and his team from the Korva Scientific lab in Los Angeles – which was signed off by one of the world’s leading anti-doping experts Paul Scott – and tests results have indicated the presence of GW501516 in the ‘widely available’ Black Ant male sexual stimulant he claims to have taken 30 or more days before that drug test.
Miller has always maintained that he has never willingly taken any kind of performance-enhancing drugs and is confident he will be able to prove that and regain his license from the NSAC at his hearing, which as of yet has not been allocated a concrete date.
He told Sportsmail that he has taken this Viagra-type pill on several occasions and had not made the connection the first time after testing positive for GW501516 in 2019. And after initially failing that first test, he claims to have asked for a second and third test which then subsequently found EPO and HGH in his system, which he says he was unaware at the time that it came from a stem cell shot he had taken for an elbow injury.
‘Everybody wants to point the finger but not everybody has the right information,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘The levels I failed for in this case right now were so minute. And with the EPO, you need to use that for months at a time if you want to get any muscle benefits not just one shot. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not that person and we are going to prove everybody wrong. I have spent thousands of dollars of my own money trying to find out what’s happened.
‘But there’s ignorance on a lot of people’s part. Everybody listens to whoever has the loudest voice at the time and who has the microphone. When Eddie Hearn, or Andre Ward or Timothy Bradley are saying what they’re saying everybody listens. But when I get the microphone back in my hand and get two or three wins back under my belt, I’m going to shut them up.
‘The proof is in the pudding. It’s right there. I’ve been truthful from the beginning to the end. The truth will set you free and I believe in that. If you go by the book and by the law, this case is innocent.’
Sportsmail has contacted the Nevada State Athletic Commission for comment.
UFC star Jon Jones made similar claims to ones Miller is making now back in 2016 when he tested positive for two banned substances. His defence was that he took a contaminated pill for erectile dysfunction but while USADA’s investigation had concluded he was ‘not a cheater of the sport’, Jones was still hit with a one-year suspension.
He hasn’t fought since 2018 after serving six-month ban and having license suspended in July
Eddie Hearn said Miller’s career was over and that no promoter would let him fight again
Anti-doping agencies often take a dim view at such justifications, with fighters responsible for the supplements and pills they put into their bodies, but Miller is optimistic about his fate, which will be determined by the NSAC panel.
Miller and his legal team have spent the past few months investigating the failed test in a bid to clear his name and have been in direct dialogue with the NSAC and expect them to make a decision about his future in the sport by the end of October.
After his first failed three tests last year, Miller had admitted to ‘messing up’ but says now: ‘I was getting my supplements tested but I should have been more careful. When I failed for GW501516 I was the one who called for my third test, and when my third test results came back that was when EPO had shown up and I was like “No way, I need to figure this out”, and then I was told it was in the stem cell shot.
‘I had taken stem cell shots before and never had a problem but this one was a more potent blend. I do my due diligence now and I’m trying to educate myself on these things and I’m working on something behind closed doors to protect other fighters from this happening to them. There’s a lack of education around drug testing, that’s the problem.’
Miller insists he’s never taken PEDs knowingly and has evidence last failed test is down to a pill
Bob Arum had signed a promotional deal with Miller but thinks he will get a long-time ban
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who had signed Miller after his failed drugs tests leading up to his fight with Joshua, admitted he will ‘await to hear developments’ before deciding whether or not to continue working with him but believes he could be facing a ‘quite long suspension’.
‘He could be looking at two years and may never fight again,’ Arum told Sportsmail. ‘This is something he caused himself and he has to face the music with the Nevada Commission and it’s as simple as that.
He added: ‘I would feel sorry for him if it was down to something over the counter but it’s a dumb-a** thing to do when he’s had this problem before – the one before the Joshua fight and then there was another one when he was in kickboxing.
‘So it’s not like he’s a guy who said “I had a lozenge or whatever and I shouldn’t have had it”. That’s different because the guy has already been busted twice and then to have so little discretion that he uses something over the counter that he was not checking out, if that is in fact the case. It seems bizarre to me but it could be.’