Anthony Joshua vs Jarrell Miller one of the biggest fights in history?

[Evander]

Who could fill in ?
A world title shot at MSG in NYC ... surely they'll be a line up

[Evander]

Dillian Whyte should step up.
If he loses his excuse is I took the fight on short notice and have still only lost to one fighter while buying himself some good air time in the U.S

[tiny_acres]

Dillian Whyte should step up.
If he loses his excuse is I took the fight on short notice and have still only lost to one fighter while buying himself some good air time in the U.S

I wish. But we all know it will be a joke of a fighter.

[Evander]

I wish. But we all know it will be a joke of a fighter.

As comp for Joshua goes Whyte would be considered stiff opposition.

[tiny_acres]

As comp for Joshua goes Whyte would be considered stiff opposition.

But I doubt it will be Whyte. Eddie will either have him wait for Deontay or use Whyte vs Joshua as a big Wimbledon ppv

[dickbelden]

KONG ORTIZ or WHYTE ?

[Ilya Muromets]

Kownacki!

[TheBeast]

Kownacki's main skills are being able to flurry while stalking and taking shots... AJ will capitalize on that easy...

[1okstcsb]

I think Hearn will be getting on the Phone to Luis Ortiz in a few hours, if he hasn't already, Hearn will be begging Ortiz to fight Joshua and do everything he can to make the Joshua VS Ortiz Fight on June 1st.

[TheBeast]

it will be Kownacki because of the selling power

[Evander]

Considering Dillian Whyte doesn't have a fight he can't get out of why wouldn't be him ?
He's much fitter than Ortiz.

[TheBeast]

Whyte in NYC doesn't sell but i agree it would be a much better fight

[Evander]

Whyte brings names.
He's already fought Joshua,Chisora,Helenius and Parker that's gotta be worth something.

[TheBeast]

Evander, i'm a boxing fan... it's worth something to my eyes... but AJ and opponents brings a heavy purse cost and they need to sell tickets... a reality in boxing and Kownacki is the solution here.

[Evander]

Really

[Evander]

Evander, i'm a boxing fan... it's worth something to my eyes... but AJ and opponents brings a heavy purse cost and they need to sell tickets... a reality in boxing and Kownacki is the solution here.

I'm not taking the piss or anything, but the last time I spoke of him was in relation to sunbeds and man boobs so you can see why I'm a little surprised he's turning up as Joshua's next opponent for the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

[Evander]

If you're fighting in NYC and want to make an impression then have an opponent that fits the bill.

[joshj909]

You'd think that Pulev, Kownacki, Whyte and Ortiz should be the only ones even remotely discussed. Pulev is a mandatory and just made a name (albeit bad) for himself, Kownacki is local, Ortiz is probably better known in the US that Kownacki, Whyte might actually be the worst option as it would make more in the UK

[Evander]

Pulev just fought he won't be ready and he bounced himself out of a Joshua fight previous didn't he ?
Kownacki is local ...Joshua is from Watford has Klownacki been working their lately ?

[joshj909]

Pulev just fought he won't be ready and he bounced himself out of a Joshua fight previous didn't he ?
Kownacki is local ...Joshua is from Watford has Klownacki been working their lately ?

The fight isn't for another month and a half and Pulev fought a month ago. It's not unheard of.
The fight is also in New York, Kownacki's from New York...

[Evander]

I'm not trying to deny Kownacki anything, let him make his case.

[Enlightened-One]

When AJ was scheduled to face Kubrat Pulev, Eddie Hearn already had Carlos Takam lined-up as the Bulgarian’s replacement. The Frenchman was even told well beforehand to prepare himself for this bout.

When Anthony Joshua was scheduled to face Joseph Parker, Eddie Hearn employed the services of Alexander Povetkin as the potential stand-in, with the Russian competing on the undercard.

There’s one thing we know for sure, we’re not going to see a repeat of the Vanes Martirosyan farce, because Eddie Hearn isn’t grossly incompetent (to the point of negligence), and I strongly suspect that he already had someone lined-up to fill Jarrell Miller’s boots.

Oleksandr Usyk is a fellow Matchroom/DAZN fighter, already scheduled to compete the week prior to the AJ-Miller fight-date, which could fulfil Anthony Joshua’s WBO mandatory defence, but the title-shot opportunity is probably far too soon for the Ukraine. However, stranger things have happened (i.e. Matchroom orchestrated Kell Brook versus GGG).

Michael Hunter is an American, rated as a top-15 fighter by the WBA & IBF, is a fellow Matchroom stablemate and was already scheduled to compete the week prior (on the Usyk undercard).

Filip Hrgovic is in precisely the same situation as the aforementioned Hunter, except he's Croation and has only competed in seven bouts, so he's an unlikely candidate.

Six weeks is far too short notice for someone like Dillian Whyte, with 'The Body Snatcher' scheduled to only compete on the 13th July. He’d probably decline the fight anyway, because Eddie Hearn preferred to pay Jarrell Miller a better payday than the lowball offer he received.

I really hope Trevor Bryan isn’t considered, but he’s American and holds one of the WBA’s titles. I also hope that Mahmoud "Manuel" Charr isn’t considered either, even though he also possesses one of the WBA’s secondary titles.

I’d be surprised if Eddie Hearn contacted rival boxing content providers, such as Top Rank or the PBC at such short notice, even though the likes of Tyson Fury, Hughie Fury, Adam Kownacki and Deontay Wilder are either already scheduled to compete relatively close to the June 1st fight-date or were at least hoping to compete around that time.

Adam Kownacki is probably the ideal replacement, considering he lives in New York, a member of the large Polish community that resides in that area, an exciting fighter to watch, as well as hoping to compete during the month of June anyway, but he’s not rated by the WBO or the WBA, coupled with the fact that he’s affiliated to a rival boxing content provider (PBC), which significantly reduces his chances for being considered.

Anyway, we’re only six weeks away from the 1st June fight-date, which means that if Eddie Hearn defies expectations and hasn’t already got a decent fighter lined-up to replace Miller, then the event will either be cancelled, or we’ll inevitably be disappointed about the choice of opponent.

[marvelous marv]

Kownacki sells alot of tickets when he fights locally. He might be the best option, maybe the only option.

[Oiky]

Absolutely nowhere near one of the biggest fights in history

[candyslim]

That's a damn fine post EO, covers all the bases.

My first thought was Kownacki, actually no my first thought was F*ck you Miller you super-sized imbecile, you've ruined your (first) huge opportunity and you've ruined a fight I was expecting to be far more competitive than generally anticipated.

Kownacki was who I would have selected as the original choice opponent for AJ's US debut if I were Hean anyway because he fulfills most of the same criteria that Miller does, but he is far less of a risk in my opinion, I could see Wilder being quite happy to defend his belt against Kownacki whereas I don't think he would be any keener to fight Miller than he has been to fight Dillian Whyte.

That's another reason for Joshua to face Kownacki. It removes him from the picture and gives Wilder one less acceptable-ish opponent as an alternative to facing Joshua i.e. the net is closing.