Say this for heavyweight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller: Whatever entertainment he may fail to deliver inside the ring, he goes out of his way to make up for it on the other side of the ropes.
On Saturday at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, Miller more or less handled his business in both areas, outpunching Lenier Pero on his way to a unanimous decision – and then regaling the remaining onlookers and a DAZN audience with humor, opponent callouts and even an unpaid advertising spot.
Miller, 28-1-2 (22 KOs), has seen his boxing fortunes follow a path similar to that of the hairpiece that famously became unfettered from his dome in his previous fight – rising, falling and seemingly being nearly chucked away from the ring altogether.
Miller has been popped on three separate occasions over the years because of positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs, which denied him a challenge of then-unified heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua. Various bans and fight fallouts led to extended layoffs. Weight and fitness have sometimes been an issue for Miller, who ballooned to a career-high 341¾lbs for a 2022 win over Ariel Esteban Bracamonte and who suffered a knockout loss to former unified champ Daniel Dubois when he showed up almost 100lbs heavier than his opponent.
But on Saturday, Miller was a bit sharper and – most impressively – a lot more active than the previously undefeated Pero, 13-1 (8 KOs). At his best overwhelming the competition with a combination of size, forward pressure and punch volume, Miller put all three together to best the WBA’s No. 2-ranked heavyweight and earn the organization’s mandatory slot in the division.
“I knew Pero was gonna be tough, and I had a feeling he was gonna move a lot more than that, to tell the truth,” Miller said in his postfight interview. “So I wasn't looking for the knockout. I just wanted to see what my conditioning was and get back to a lot of punches, a lot of punches. And my team just said, ‘If the knockout is gonna come, it’s gonna come. And I felt really comfortable, and I really wanted the rounds.
”A couple times, I know I had him hurt, but I'm like, ‘You know what? Work, baby, just work. Don't look for it too much.’ And he caught me with a couple shots. I'm like, ‘Holy shit.’ But it was good, though, getting the rust off.”
Miller on the mic was as relentless as he was on the canvas. He looked directly into the camera and mugged more than once, correcting Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn on how much weight he had lost since his previous fight (12lbs), dropping an extemporaneous DAZN promo and setting the table – or perhaps several of them – for his next fight.
“I'm trying to fight again, maybe June on ‘Boots’ Ennis’ card in New York,” Miller said, again working through the gears as he seemingly called out Pero’s brother Dainier – another WBA ranked heavyweight – and name-dropped Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
“Deontay, he pussy-whipped, man. So, you know, he said a long time ago that he don't want to fight Big Baby, because I hurt his feelings. If you don't shut your pie ass up and come fight me, boy. … But we're gonna see, man, we’re gonna see.”
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
