Jarrell Miller beats Lenier Pero, but who’s next?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 29: Jarrell Miller during a Media Day ahead of his upcoming fight this weekend on July 29, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing/Getty Images) | Matchroom Boxing/Getty Images

Jarrell Miller came out on top tonight in his headlining fight against Lenier Pero, winning a unanimous decision, and Miller largely credited his performance to him coming into this bout in much better shape (for him, anyway) at 305 lbs. In his post-fight interview, Miller had this to say when asked about whether or not being leaner helped him out in tonight’s fight.

“100%,” Miller said. “The weight came off really easy and we just wanted to work on conditioning since we had a short camp.”

Afterwards Miller called for fights against a lot of top fighters in the heavyweight division, but also admitted that he knew he might have trouble securing some of the biggest names like Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury while still being hopeful. Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, for his part, says he would love to see Miller in against Wilder next.

“For me, when I look at fights in the division, as a promoter you want a fight with great build up, you want a fight with jeopardy,” Hearn said. “For me, the American fight is Deontay Wilder against Jarrell Miller. Run it in New York. That’s a serious, serious fight. Deontay’s come back with a good win against Chisora, I think that’s a big fight for American boxing.”

Miller continues to overwhelm a certain level of opponents with his size and workrate, but his approach is still questionable against the very level of the division. Luckily for Miller, Wilder is long in the tooth at the point and no longer considered to pose nearly the level of danger he once did, but do you think that’s the obvious fight to make? Who would you like to see Miller in with next?