Joshua, Miller Raise The Rivalry Level With Fiery Trash Talk
By Jake Donovan
The request for civility from event promoter Eddie Hearn didn’t matter to Anthony Joshua or Jarrell Miller, nor the history surrounding the forthcoming clash of unbeaten heavyweights at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden.
At some point while in the vicinity of one another during Tuesday’s press conference at MSG, things were bound to turn south.
A kickoff presser to announce the June 1 headliner on DAZN—which marks Joshua’s U.S. and MSG debut—was designed to recognize the rich history that came with heavyweight championship boxing at the venue dubbed ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena.’ Hearn did his best to get both heavyweights to act on their best behavior, even directly demanding as much prior to the start of the presser.
All it took was for the two to meet on stage for the obligatory face-off for things to jump off in the wrong direction.
Brooklyn’s Miller (23-0-1, 20KOs) was introduced first, treating the moment as a disrespect given the fight is taking place mere miles from his hometown. He immediately took it out on England’s Joshua (22-0, 21KOs), who walked onto the stage and towards his future challenger with his hands behind his back. Miller caught the defending champ—and everyone else around them—off guard by shoving him several feet backwards.
It wasn’t quite Mike Tyson igniting a full-scale brawl with Lennon Lewis which prompted a two-month delay and near nationwide ban of their eventual June 2002 superfight—but it certainly didn’t do anything to enhance what Tuesday’s session was supposed to represent.
Their forthcoming title clash will mark the first time in nearly 50 years where two unbeaten heavyweights meet in a title fight at Madison Square Garden. The last such occasion is the most famous boxing event to ever take place at the venue, when Joe Frazier outpointed Muhammad Ali in their first meeting in March 1971 aptly dubbed “The Fight of the Century.”
Of course, there wasn’t any shortage of trash talk between Ali and Frazier over the course of their historic trilogy—and well beyond their years in the ring.
Then again, nobody will ever confuse Joshua and Miller for two of the greatest heavyweights of all time no matter how many historical parallels can be drawn. So far, neither side has exactly put their best foot forward.
“He didn’t want this fight first,” Miller insisted during his time behind the mic. “He wanted to fight (England’s Dillian) Whyte. That’s fact. His cheap ass didn’t want to pay nothing.
“The more that you understand what boxing is… all that humble, that fake shit – he puts it on. Boxing is not a humble sport.”
Miller is certainly not a humble individual when it comes to baiting his heavyweight rivals. He literally talked his way into this matchup, dating back to when the two exchanged unpleasantries in person last summer when Joshua first announced he was heading to DAZN. Miller went deep in his efforts to get inside the unified titlist’s head, up to and including disrespecting Joshua’s mother, a topic which was revisited on Tuesday.
Trash talk is rarely a factor on fight night, but for now has given the unbeaten Brit plenty of reason to not at all care for his next challenger.
“Jarrell Miller is a little bitch,” stated Joshua, a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist who will make the seventh defense of at least one alphabet title he’s held since April 2016. “I’m gonna knock him the f*** out. He’s an ex-kickboxer, a drug abuser, he punches like a fairy. He’s the softest puncher in the heavyweight division.”
Fittingly, the least offensive statement from that blurb was what prompted a disruption from the other side.
“Your mom thinks I hit hard, though,” Miller fired back.
“Where’s your mum?” Joshua asked in return. “If she’s out there, I’ll pay her rent now. I’m your landlord.”
Whether just talk or real emotion, Miller was prepared to take it to the next level.
“Say I won’t come over there and slap the shit outcha right now,” demanded the unbeaten challenger, who enters his first major title fight. “You gangsta, say I won’t slap the shit outcha right now.”
“Shut the f*** up,” Joshua replied, shrugging off the remark.
“Say it then! You won’t, you know why,” Miller rhetorically asked. “Because you a pussy. Say I won’t slap you… and mark my word, Eddie can’t stop me from doing it if I come over to that other side of the table.”
It wouldn’t come to that, although cooler heads never quite prevailed. For now, Miller has landed the only scoring blow, but time will tell which side can truly put action behind their unkind words.
