WBA Soils It’s Reputation by Ranking Disgraced Heavyweight Jarrell Miller!
Boxing has undeniably lost some of it’s luster over the years. Yet still, this great sport always finds a way to outdo itself when it comes to wearing shame! If it’s not the lack of marquee fights happening, it’s the unnecessary addition of world titles. Case in point: the laughable WBC franchise championship, which has often confused the Mauricio Sulaimán, the man responsible for it! Then there’s the ridiculous WBC bridgerweight title which was won by Oscar Rivas. Neither title was needed and both only served to hurt the sport. The return of Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (25-0-1, 21KOs) has now served to add further insult to injury.
THE LATEST BLUNDER!
The latest blunder comes from the WBA. Scrolling through their heavyweight rankings will surprisingly reveal the infamous name of Jarrell Miller. No big deal, right? Wrong! This is a very big deal, as he’s now ranked number fourteen. I should point out that this is the same Miller who tested positive for PEDs on multiple occasions! The guy who missed nearly four years of fighting due to his inability to refrain from taking PEDs. And yes, the same guy who blew a golden opportunity to face then-unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in his hometown of New York.
As disgraceful as he is to the sport, this writer wouldn’t have a problem with him being ranked if the guys he’s recently beat were legitimate contenders. This is not that case. No disrespect to Ariel Esteban Bracamonte (11-9, 6KOs) and Derek Cardenas (8-10, 7KOs), but those wins don’t warrant ranking Jarrell Miller! Those two guys have a combined record of 19-19.
This ranking does everything for Miller as he continues his comeback against subpar competition. He will likely continue to beat lower tier fighters and continue to rise in the rankings. This potentially snowballs into Big Baby competing with bonafide contenders in title eliminators and gaining recognition as an upper echelon fighter, all sponsored by his WBA ranking.
Since his return, Miller has looked heavy and sloppy. Needless to say, he has a long way to go to return to the guy who earned a world title opportunity. Even then, there will always be questions about his true talent now that he’s no longer taking PEDs. This is yet another perplexing move by an organization that clearly has no idea when to rank a fighter. Hey, but that’s boxing for you!
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
