Brooklyn’s Jarrell Miller injured his shoulder in his last fight, an impressive 7th-round stoppage of Donovan Dennis in January, yet the fast-talking, hard-hitting heavyweight who has been compared by some to the great Riddick Bowe, will not need a long layoff. Miller, 16-0-1(14) will face Romanian Razvan Cojanu on May 27th in Niagara Falls, New York, Miller’s co-promoter Greg Cohen told RingTV.com.
Miller, a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer, has plenty of talent, he is a great interview and, perhaps most importantly for a heavyweight who wishes to be fan-friendly, he can whack. Miller, with his unusual nickname of “Big Baby,” is one of the most interesting of the current young, unbeaten U.S heavyweights.
However, while the fight with the 12-2 Dennis was a decent match-up, fans really want to see Miller in with a step up in opposition, and the Cojanu fight is not this in any way. The Romanian-born 29-year-old who lives in California has an average record at 14-2(7) and in his only real fight of note he was stopped inside a couple of rounds by common opponent Dennis.
Perhaps Miller and his team feel they need further maturing fights before they step it up. The good news is Miller hopes to be active here in 2016, with five fights being the target. Hopefully, by the end of the year, Miller will get in there with a ranked contender. But so far, Miller has looked like a genuine prospect. At 6’4” and around 270-pounds, Miller is certainly big enough to tackle the behemoths that rule the division these days. Miller gained some press when he recently called out unbeaten Brit Anthony Joshua, whose jaw he said he’d break.
Miller, in a recent interview with UK Boxing News, said he aims to get his first world title shot as soon as by the end of this year. Miller, who has sparred, amongst others, Tyson Fury, told the publication that he concentrates on body punching and that he is focusing on perfecting his craft. A powerfully built athlete who refers to himself as “a warrior,” Miller is fun to watch, fun to listen to and he will be a fun fighter to follow. Can Miller, who is not averse to trash-talking, back it all up and reach the top? More than a few good judges seem to think he is a good bet to do just that.
It’s not clear what we will get in the Cojanu fight – another vicious Miller KO win most likely – but “Big Baby” has a growing number of fans and followers, and these people will definitely be tuning into CBS Championship Boxing towards the end of May.
