Talksport – Syndication Server

Bob Arum: ‘Jarrell Miller will never fight on a Top Rank card’

Promoter Bob Arum has cut ties to heavyweight Jarrell Miller after Miller tested positive for PEDs.

Promoter Bob Arum gave Jarrell Miller a second chance by signing the troubled heavyweight earlier this year and arranging his comeback. Miller won’t get a third chance, at least not from Arum.

Arum told talkSPORT Fight Night that he’s releasing Miller from his contract after the fighter failed a drug test ahead of his scheduled bout with Jerry Forrest on July 9.

Miller had also tested positive for multiple PEDs before he was scheduled to challenge for Anthony Joshua’s titles on Dec. 7 in New York, which cost him the opportunity. Andy Ruiz Jr. took his place and stopped Joshua.

“How stupid can you be? That was my reaction,” Arum said. “I mean when we signed the fight, after he had had tested positive before the fight with Anthony Joshua, he told me it was his people that did it, he would be very careful, he would have a special nutritionist.

“And, boom, the same thing happened and he tested dirty. I think, again, that’s a credit to boxing. Because once we scheduled him to fight, the Nevada Commission immediately had VADA test him.

“The first test uncovered performance-enhancing drugs. It’s very, very hard to deal with stupidity.”

Miller avoided being suspended after his earlier failed tests because he had yet to be licensed by New York. “Big Baby” probably will face punishment this time. The NSAC reportedly will treat Miller as a licensed fighter because he submitted all pertinent paperwork.

“I look at it this way: If a fighter takes performance-enhancing drugs getting ready to participate in a fight, then I look at it as attempted murder,” Arum said. “If he somehow evaded the test, he would go in the ring seriously compromising his opponent and I believe that would be attempted murder.

“What happened in New York, he didn’t have a license. He tested dirty and the fight was off. When we went to the Nevada Commission to schedule him for a fight, we told the Nevada Commission, ‘Look, if he had been licensed in New York, they would’ve given him a one-year suspension. So let’s do it ourselves, keep him out for the year.’

“… Now it’s up to the [Nevad] commission to determine the penalty. And I believe that it’ll either be multi-year or life. If he isn’t banned for life, then I believe it’ll be a multi-year suspension. And if you’re asking me if I’d continue my contract with him, the answer is, ‘Not on your life.’

“Jarrell Miller will never fight on a Top Rank card.”

Tyson Fury surprised that Deontay Wilder wants a third fight

Tyson Fury said he beat up Deontay Wilder so badly in their rematch that he’s surprised Wilder wants more.

Tyson Fury was surprised that Deontay Wilder wants another go at him.

Fury beat up and then knocked out Wilder in the seventh round of their rematch on Feb. 22. Still, Wilder exercised a clause in their contract that allowed for a third fight. The two drew in 2018.

“Yeah, I was surprised because it was a one-sided fight,” Fury told talkSPORT. “He didn’t win a second of that second fight, but in this game it’s a short game and a short career, and there’s an old saying: ‘We’ve gotta make hay while the sun shines.’

“And for Deontay Wilder at the age of 34, how many big fights out there are left for him after a domination like he had? So I understand where he’s coming from. I understand that he has probably a lot of bills to pay.

“I don’t know the man’s personal circumstances, but from what I’ve seen of these American fighters and sportsmen, they always live a rock star’s lifestyle, even though they’re not rock stars.

“They go through a lot of money quite quickly. Just look at Mike Tyson. He went through like a billion dollars or whatever he went through. So I’m sure that the money side of it is the tempting thing.

“I don’t think it’s too tempting to go in there and get an absolute beating like he did before, but he would be tempted by the amount of money that he would receive because they go through it quite quickly.

“I think that’s the reason he’s taking the fight, for the money.”

Fury said he expected more from Wilder in the fight.

“To be honest I was quite disappointed in the challenge that Wilder brought,” he said. “Because I did train for 12 rounds at any pace and put myself through hell and back for 10 weeks in the training camp.

“And I prepared for the best fighter on the planet, I prepared for the most vicious puncher on the earth that there’s ever been. And I was quite disappointed because it wasn’t the challenge that I expected.

“Although it was a fantastic victory for myself and it was a great fight, it just did seem that Wilder maybe wasn’t himself. Maybe all the excuses he made, some of them were true. Maybe his legs were sore from the costume, maybe he did have the flu, maybe he did have a broken arm or a bone in his back or whatever.

“I’m not sure because that wasn’t the Deontay Wilder that I prepared for. That wasn’t the animal I put myself through all those hours in training for. Like I said, it would be one of my easiest fights, and it was. I believe that was one of my easiest fights apart from the early knockovers that I had.

“And on this level you don’t usually get that sort of easy victory, with heavyweight champions of the world. The guy’s been heavyweight champion of the world and made 10 title defenses, knocked out every single person.

“And to go in there with me, who’s usually a boxer, counter-puncher, master-skilled boxer, and get absolutely destroyed in a few rounds. I trained for an absolute battle royale and I didn’t get that, so hopefully there’s a couple of fighters out there that, when I do go into training camp and I do serious training, that they will be worthy of the challenge.

“I’m not in boxing to be heavyweight champion or win some belts or anything. I’m here to give the fans what they want, battle royales, and the best fights that can be made. From what I’m seeing, if that’s the best out there, then I’m not gonna get the worthy challengers that I crave.”

The tentative date for the third Fury-Wilder fight is July 18 at the MGM Grand, the same venue at which the second fight took place.

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II loser can get third fight

A clause in the contract for the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder rematch on Feb. 22 could lead to a heavyweight trilogy.

Frank Warren, Fury’s co-promoter, told U.K.-based talkSPORT that the contract allows the loser of the fight to exercise a clause mandating one more bout.

The loser “has the option to activate a third fight,’’ Warren said.

An immediate third bout could knock out Anthony Joshua’s hope for a bout with the winner later in 2020. It’s still not clear what Joshua intends to do. He has as many options as he has belts. His future is a multiple-choice question.

Even if Fury wins the rematch and Wilder exercises the trilogy clause, however, Warren hopes for an eventual all-U.K. showdown between Fury and Joshua. Warren also suggests another option for Joshua. Forget all the belts.

“If I was Anthony Joshua, I wouldn’t fight again until we know the winner of this [Wilder-Fury] fight,” Warren told the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph. “I’d let them strip me of my titles and not fight anybody until the big one.”