Rumor Mill: AJ vs Miller at MSG

[oogiebe]

I think Povetkin was both WBA and WBO mandatory when he fought Joshua. The only fight on the verge of being ordered would be Pulev. I think honestly Hearn couldn't reach a deal with Don King with the Bryan fight as to why that won't take place.

Pulev would be a joke. I hate the sanctioning bodies more than hot death.

he wouldnt be that bad, he beat chisora way easier then whyte did and hughie easier then parker did. you get lots of worse challengers out there then the #6-8 guy in the division. can we really say that fury or wilder or povetkin or ortiz etc have more then 1 win obviously superior to pulev?

obviously we hope for someone more interesting though

I think he's merely column fodder. When we're talking Whyte; Miller; Pov; Ortiz; I think Pulev is a pretty far drop at this stage of his career. He beat the inconsistent Chisora on SD 2 1/2 years ago and Hughie has proven to be no big win. Obviously he's not terrible, but I'd rather one of the other guys. I'm just really itching for AJ to have a real challenge and Fury/Wilder to finish their business so we can have an undisputed HW championship fight already.

[Pukka Cheese]

I think Povetkin was both WBA and WBO mandatory when he fought Joshua. The only fight on the verge of being ordered would be Pulev. I think honestly Hearn couldn't reach a deal with Don King with the Bryan fight as to why that won't take place.

Pulev would be a joke. I hate the sanctioning bodies more than hot death.

he wouldnt be that bad, he beat chisora way easier then whyte did and hughie easier then parker did. you get lots of worse challengers out there then the #6-8 guy in the division. can we really say that fury or wilder or povetkin or ortiz etc have more then 1 win obviously superior to pulev?

obviously we hope for someone more interesting though

Pulev would be a good win for anyone in the division.
Him vs Joshua is just not exciting though IMO. If Miller had any balls he would have gone over to Bulgaria and one of them would have been removed from the equation

[jamamb]

Pulev would be a joke. I hate the sanctioning bodies more than hot death.

he wouldnt be that bad, he beat chisora way easier then whyte did and hughie easier then parker did. you get lots of worse challengers out there then the #6-8 guy in the division. can we really say that fury or wilder or povetkin or ortiz etc have more then 1 win obviously superior to pulev?

obviously we hope for someone more interesting though

I think he's merely column fodder. When we're talking Whyte; Miller; Pov; Ortiz; I think Pulev is a pretty far drop at this stage of his career. He beat the inconsistent Chisora on SD 2 1/2 years ago and Hughie has proven to be no big win. Obviously he's not terrible, but I'd rather one of the other guys. I'm just really itching for AJ to have a real challenge and Fury/Wilder to finish their business so we can have an undisputed HW championship fight already.

he dominated chsora ....the sd was ridiculous. that was a 10-2 fight for me and everyone but that one judge had pulev clearly ahead. his performances still are not bad compared to other contenders.

just dont see hm as that awful of a challenger. not very interesting and we hope for better but hardly a laughable challenger. weve seen many many many worse opponents even just in the past couple of years for wlder..fury...pov...ort etc. as noted pretty much no one has beaten more then 1 guy obviously better then pulev

[oogiebe]

he wouldnt be that bad, he beat chisora way easier then whyte did and hughie easier then parker did. you get lots of worse challengers out there then the #6-8 guy in the division. can we really say that fury or wilder or povetkin or ortiz etc have more then 1 win obviously superior to pulev?

obviously we hope for someone more interesting though

I think he's merely column fodder. When we're talking Whyte; Miller; Pov; Ortiz; I think Pulev is a pretty far drop at this stage of his career. He beat the inconsistent Chisora on SD 2 1/2 years ago and Hughie has proven to be no big win. Obviously he's not terrible, but I'd rather one of the other guys. I'm just really itching for AJ to have a real challenge and Fury/Wilder to finish their business so we can have an undisputed HW championship fight already.

he dominated chsora ....the sd was ridiculous. that was a 10-2 fight for me and everyone but that one judge had pulev clearly ahead. his performances still are not bad compared to other contenders.

just dont see hm as that awful of a challenger. not very interesting and we hope for better but hardly a laughable challenger. weve seen many many many worse even just in the past couple of years.

[jamamb]

well seems a stretch to say that while calling him a joke

[oogiebe]

well seems a stretch to say that while calling him a joke

As a title challenger? Compared to several other fighters? Yes, he's a joke. He stands no chance against any belt holder except Trevor Bryan. I know I have no interest in seeing him fight for the title. Perhaps you are ok with it, and that's fine. No stretch.

[jamamb]

so who really does have a good chance to beat the champs then? how many guys you giving a good shot vs aj?

pulevs a top 6-8 guy, all the top fighters have regularly fought a lot worse then him, even as champs. most world itle challengers in boxing are worse then him. i want someone else too but really in the scheme of things hes not a terrible laughing stock challenger at all. i mean if he is then basically the whole careers of even the top hws have been laughing stocks so far

and if your gonna call him a joke it seems strange to then pull 'well hes not awful stuff' responses

[oogiebe]

so who really does have a good chance to beat the champs then? how many guys you giving a good shot vs aj?

pulevs a top 6-8 guy, all the top fighters have regularly fought a lot worse then him, even as champs. most world itle challengers in boxing are worse then him. i want someone else too but really in the scheme of things hes not a terrible laughing stock challenger at all. i mean if he is then basically the whole careers of even the top hws have been laughing stocks so far

and if your gonna call him a joke it seems strange to then pull 'well hes not awful stuff' responses

Yes he's a joke as a title challenger. He's well past his prime, and in my opinion, shouldn't be ranked in the top 10. I want Wilder/Fury to finish their business with the winner in a unification fight with AJ. I'd also like AJ to fight Miller (even though I hate Miller). If those things occur this year; after that we'll hopefully see new contenders who fight their way up out of the group of Joyce; Gorman; Kownacki; Hrgovic; and maybe even Dubois. No room for Pulev in that.

[jamamb]

so who are you giving a good shot vs aj right now?

[oogiebe]

so who are you giving a good shot vs aj?

It has nothing to do with who has a good shot (that's a trap question that you know the answer to), but the other fighters have better shots and make better fights. Unfortunately Fury and Wilder will be busy with each other.

[KiwiRider]

Shouldn't we all agree that Jarrell Miller is not ready?!?

He's weighed in well over 300 lbs for 3 consecutive fights. AJ would drown him in under 5 rounds.

And nothing would make me happier than to shut his Big Baby mouth up! There! I said it...ahhhhhhh

I know the soothing qualities of a nice hot, strong cuppa tea get overlooked in your neck of the woods, but I think, in your case, it could be truly beneficial

[oogiebe]

Shouldn't we all agree that Jarrell Miller is not ready?!?

He's weighed in well over 300 lbs for 3 consecutive fights. AJ would drown him in under 5 rounds.

And nothing would make me happier than to shut his Big Baby mouth up! There! I said it...ahhhhhhh

I know the soothing qualities of a nice hot, strong cuppa tea get overlooked in your neck of the woods, but I think, in your case, it could be truly beneficial

LMAO! Good advice!

[lazboy]

Miller may be overweight but he works in there plus seems very comfortable. He’ll be a handful to fight. Who knows what he’d be like stepping up in comp but to dismiss him due to his weight seems unladylike.

[oogiebe]

Miller may be overweight but he works in there plus seems very comfortable. He’ll be a handful to fight. Who knows what he’d be like stepping up in comp but to dismiss him due to his weight seems unladylike.

LMAO!!! Nice! Miller needs to be tested and I wouldn't mind if it were against AJ. He does amaze me that his conditioning, against less than stellar competition, seems pretty good. Not sure if he holds up when he'll get pushed.

[lazboy]

Miller may be overweight but he works in there plus seems very comfortable. He’ll be a handful to fight. Who knows what he’d be like stepping up in comp but to dismiss him due to his weight seems unladylike.

LMAO!!! Nice! Miller needs to be tested and I wouldn't mind if it were against AJ. He does amaze me that his conditioning, against less than stellar competition, seems pretty good. Not sure if he holds up when he'll get pushed.

We have to wait and see. So far what I’ve seen is that he’s smart with his work rate. A nice mix of hard and soft punches and punches in bunches. Will it work agaisnt the top dogs - who knows but the big tub of lard is far from a joke.

[DrDuke]

If this rumor is true, AJ's reputation will be questioned. He was saying, that he wouldn't fight any challenger outside of the UK, in the context of possible Wilder bout, but now he goes to the US to fight Miller, what is an easier matchup. I don't think, this can happen.

[candyslim]

Rumors are flying that Anthony Joshua will forgo a fight with Dillian Whyte in favor of having his American debut at Madison Square Garden against Jarrell Miller.

Whyte has reported no contact with Eddie Hearn with regards to the April 13th fight at Wembley. Whyte is expected to meet with Hearn sometime this month, and it is expected that Whyte will be told that he doesn't have the fight. It's also expected that Miller will cancel his January fight with a still undetermined opponent, if he gets the matchup with AJ, and that this is the reason why no opponent has been named for his January bout.

Stay tuned. I'm not sure if I'm buying it, but I'd like to see AJ/Miller. Bad news for Whyte who has fought his way to this shot. Maybe he'll get step aside money, who knows.

It is bad news for Whyte. He deserves his shot and I'm ashamed to confess that along with a lot of UK boxing fans, I don't really want it. Hell, I call myself a fan of Whyte and I'd deny him his well earned reward - I feel dirty

Miller is an unknown quantity at top level which means he could be risky for Joshua or he could be easy meat. He looks a bit lardy but he doesn't appear to lack stamina to me, in fact that looks to me to be a major asset. He pressures his opponent and throws a lot of punches. He can be hit but is not devoid of some defensive skills. He doesn't seem to punch that hard he's about quantity rather than quality.

The all important question is 'how well does he absorb punishment ' Nobody really knows because he hasn't fought anyone likely to trouble him. Just going from his bull-like structure and massive neck I would imagine that punch resistance could be another of his key attributes. It will need to be against Joshua and if it is then AJ would have a real fight on his hands.

So what about Wembley? I can't imagine Eddie can get out of his commitment at this stage. Of course it doesn't necessarily have to be AJ, but realistically who else is going to come close to pulling 100,000 punters?

I wish it were Wilder or even Fury but I suspect it will be Whyte, and I really don't think Eddie is likely to be happy about it. He would much rather AJ fight Whyte later when he can remove Whyte from contention and discharge one of his mandatory commitments at the same time.

[Autobarn]

I'd be very happy for Joshua to fight Whyte in an exciting rematch/rivalry for the UK fans, and then vs Miller to make his name in the States. If those were his two big fights this year, I'd have no problems. And then the Fury-Wilder rematch winner, afterward.

[DrDuke]

I'd be very happy for Joshua to fight Whyte in an exciting rematch/rivalry for the UK fans, and then vs Miller to make his name in the States. If those were his two big fights this year, I'd have no problems. And then the Fury-Wilder rematch winner, afterward.

Sounds good.

[ewenhay]

I'd be very happy for Joshua to fight Whyte in an exciting rematch/rivalry for the UK fans, and then vs Miller to make his name in the States. If those were his two big fights this year, I'd have no problems. And then the Fury-Wilder rematch winner, afterward.

You'd be happy with Whyte and Miller for his 2019 output?

When it could have been Fury and Wilder?

Meaning the heavyweight division might stay in limbo for another 18 months or so at least?

I wouldn't. If he doesn't fight one of Fury or Wilder in 2019 some serious questions need to be asked.

[DrDuke]

I'd be very happy for Joshua to fight Whyte in an exciting rematch/rivalry for the UK fans, and then vs Miller to make his name in the States. If those were his two big fights this year, I'd have no problems. And then the Fury-Wilder rematch winner, afterward.

You'd be happy with Whyte and Miller for his 2019 output?

When it could have been Fury and Wilder?

Meaning the heavyweight division might stay in limbo for another 18 months or so at least?

I wouldn't. If he doesn't fight one of Fury or Wilder in 2019 some serious questions need to be asked.

On the other hand, that's right too. But with all those negotiations of Joshua with Fury or Wilder, that occurred in past, there'll be no surprise, if Joshua doesn't face anyone of them in 2019. I guess, the problem is in AJ's side. He had that sh*t with both Wilder and Fury, while Fury and Wilder made a deal with each other without any troubles.

[oogiebe]

I'd be very happy for Joshua to fight Whyte in an exciting rematch/rivalry for the UK fans, and then vs Miller to make his name in the States. If those were his two big fights this year, I'd have no problems. And then the Fury-Wilder rematch winner, afterward.

You'd be happy with Whyte and Miller for his 2019 output?

When it could have been Fury and Wilder?

Meaning the heavyweight division might stay in limbo for another 18 months or so at least?

I wouldn't. If he doesn't fight one of Fury or Wilder in 2019 some serious questions need to be asked.

On the other hand, that's right too. But with all those negotiations of Joshua with Fury or Wilder, that occurred in past, there'll be no surprise, if Joshua doesn't face anyone of them in 2019. I guess, the problem is in AJ's side. He had that sh*t with both Wilder and Fury, while Fury and Wilder made a deal with each other without any troubles.

True that! At the end of the day, it's us fans who will miss out if the top three don't settle this year.

[candyslim]

I'd be very happy for Joshua to fight Whyte in an exciting rematch/rivalry for the UK fans, and then vs Miller to make his name in the States. If those were his two big fights this year, I'd have no problems. And then the Fury-Wilder rematch winner, afterward.

You'd be happy with Whyte and Miller for his 2019 output?

When it could have been Fury and Wilder?

Meaning the heavyweight division might stay in limbo for another 18 months or so at least?

I wouldn't. If he doesn't fight one of Fury or Wilder in 2019 some serious questions need to be asked.

On the other hand, that's right too. But with all those negotiations of Joshua with Fury or Wilder, that occurred in past, there'll be no surprise, if Joshua doesn't face anyone of them in 2019. I guess, the problem is in AJ's side. He had that sh*t with both Wilder and Fury, while Fury and Wilder made a deal with each other without any troubles.

It was always going to be that way. Wilder's people looking for a good name opponent at the least possible risk. They are businessmen. Oh look Fury is back after a three year lay-off, two of which spent partying. Sign him up.

Fury looks at Wilder and fancies he can get the job done even if he is still some way off the pace, where do I sign?

Neither of them are seeing a lame duck when they look at Joshua. They realize they will not start favourite and could get beaten, even humiliated. They're going to want top dollar it's understandable. Joshua can afford to pay them what they're asking but he has played the long game to get to where he can dictate terms, and it offends his
sensibilities that he is still being expected to compromise and to make these guys their fortunes for them.

[oogiebe]

You'd be happy with Whyte and Miller for his 2019 output?

When it could have been Fury and Wilder?

Meaning the heavyweight division might stay in limbo for another 18 months or so at least?

I wouldn't. If he doesn't fight one of Fury or Wilder in 2019 some serious questions need to be asked.

On the other hand, that's right too. But with all those negotiations of Joshua with Fury or Wilder, that occurred in past, there'll be no surprise, if Joshua doesn't face anyone of them in 2019. I guess, the problem is in AJ's side. He had that sh*t with both Wilder and Fury, while Fury and Wilder made a deal with each other without any troubles.

It was always going to be that way. Wilder's people looking for a good name opponent at the least possible risk. They are businessmen. Oh look Fury is back after a three year lay-off, two of which spent partying. Sign him up.

Fury looks at Wilder and fancies he can get the job done even if he is still some way off the pace, where do I sign?

Neither of them are seeing a lame duck when they look at Joshua. They realize they will not start favourite and could get beaten, even humiliated. They're going to want top dollar it's understandable. Joshua can afford to pay them what they're asking but he has played the long game to get to where he can dictate terms, and it offends his
sensibilities that he is still being expected to compromise and to make these guys their fortunes for them.

Sensible post, however; with Fury's comeback and he fighting Wilder with a controversial ending, thus putting a rematch on the table with public interest, it has taken away some of AJ's leverage, at least in the short term. All the bantering of purse splits and who's the "A" side aren't as prevalent as it was before December 1. Fury brings some 'lineal' leverage to the discussion. AJ would indeed be the favorite over both of them, but Wilder and Fury have each other with AJ looking in from the outside for now.

[candyslim]

Of course you are right. Joshua is wealthy enough that it wouldn't damage him financially (provided he wins of course) to say "Deontay what will it take for you to fight me in April?" and then to meet it. AJ has hopefully ten years at the top. Deontay is looking for the best price for his chips as he will be looking to cash out sooner rather than later.

It clearly rankles with Joshua though. He doesn't see why he should him being the 'A' side n' all. I can see both sides.