Anthony Joshua is back in the ring on June 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, when he faces undefeated contender Jarrell Miller. The bout will be the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO world heavyweight champion’s United States debut.
Miller spent close to half an hour on Tuesday playing the intimidation game with Joshua during an interview session with a small group of reporters before their press conference at Madison Square Garden.
When it was Joshua’s turn to speak, he responded to the loquacious aspirant by briefly saying how he sees the boxer native of Brooklyn.
“He’s slow, he’s not a puncher. He’s like a gorilla, an ex-kickboxer, probably he’d better play in the NFL. He had problems with substance abuse, he took doping products.” Joshua said.
“I cannot really respect that, so talking about it leads to nothing. You understand? And I’m just going to fix that in the ring, so yes, I do not have much more to add.” Joshua added.
Joshua refers to the fact that Miller tested positive for a banned substance in California while he was a professional kickboxer.
The British icon added that he has already faced a much higher opposition than Miller. Joshua beat former champion Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin in three of his last four bouts.
Miller on the other hand, defeated successively the pugilist veterans Gerald Washington, Mariusz Wach, Johann Duhaupas, Tomasz Adamek and Bogdan Dinu, after an absence of 11 months in the ring.
Anthony Joshua will defend his title against Jarrel Miller in USA. (Source:www.sportingnews.com)
Joshua, who is 6’6 for 245 lbs, has warned his opponent that their fight will be much more difficult for him than anything he has experienced in his previous fights.
“With me, I think stats and facts do not lie. The cards are revealing my stats do not lie when you compare the two cards.” Joshua said.
“So it’s just jealousy, in my opinion. Just hatred for no reason. I respect my opponents. But when they do not respect me, they have to expect the worst of me, so it’s just negativity and hatred in my opinion.” the 2012 Olympic gold medalist added.