Lou DiBella against lifetime ban of Jarrell Miller
Reaction continues to reverberate to the news about Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) once again testing positive for PEDs. Of immediate consequence, Miller is being pulled from a scheduled July 9 bout against Jerry Forrest (26-3, 20 KO).
In the aftermath, there has been a debate revolving around what type of punishment Miller should face. Some feel that a lifetime ban from the sport is in order.
NO ACCOUNTABILITY BY TEAM MILLER
During an interview with Danny Flexen of SecondsOut, promoter Lou DiBella gave his thoughts on Miller and what kind of punishment he should receive. As he explained, while he’s frustrated with the 32-year-old, he was also failed by the system and boxing hierarchy.
“Someone needs to get this guy to take responsibility. He needs to fix his life, I think he has some kind of compulsion or addiction when it comes to PED. I don’t know if I favor a lifetime ban, I don’t think I do actually.
I favor a very long suspension. I’ll tell you why I don’t favor a lifetime ban; because the industry also sort of failed him.
If he does have this kind of compulsion and tendency to cheat and let’s just say he has an addiction to this shit and can’t stop, no one made him enroll in VADA all year round.
No one made him enroll in the clean boxing program of the WBC. No boxing commission in the United States, no association of boxing, no ratings organization; none of his promoters, no one said you’re not fighting until I see evidence that you’re clean for an extended period.”
DiBella believes that Miller has always been a dirty fighter. However, he also believes there was no true accountability to ensure that he would get and, more importantly, stay clean.
Because of that, the promoter points the finger at boxing’s infrastructure; his team allowed him to fight again, not knowing fully whether he was truly PED free. He felt it was only a matter of time before “Big Baby” would go back on the juice.
The debate surrounding what will and should happen to Jarrell Miller continues. Stay tuned to 3KingsBoxing for further developments.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
