Jarrell Miller (26-1-2, 22 KOs) was disappointed with his failure to win his fight against former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2-1, 22 KOs) last Saturday night at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Miller overcame a slow start in the first three rounds to wear down Ruiz with pressure and control in rounds 4 through 12. The judges scored the contest 116-112 for Jarrell Miller, 114-114 and 114-114.
Miller Questions Judging a
After the fight, Miller complained about the California judges working the contest. He said he’d asked that none of them be from the state because Ruiz is a Southern California native.
Miller applied constant pressure on Ruiz, hitting him with combinations and seemingly controlling the rounds. Ruiz connected with the bigger, faster shots in the fight, but he was exhausted in the second half and unable to fight hard enough to win rounds conclusively.
The judges scored the fight a 12-round majority draw, but fans on social media overwhelmingly felt that Miller, 36, had done enough to rate the victory. Ruiz showed his class after the fight, saying, “Let’s do it again. It was pretty exhausting.”
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh would have to favor a rematch between the two super-sized heavyweights. He might also plan for both guys to face other top fighters in the division. Ruiz’s popularity makes him a good dance partner for fighting one of the stars in the division.
“In this fight, we beat a guy but lost in his hometown. People see what it is, and let’s get on with the next one,” Jarrell Miller told the media, reflecting on his controversial fight against Andy Ruiz Jr. last Saturday night.
Miller could have helped himself win the fight if he’d thrown more punches. In many rounds, he was walking Ruiz down but not letting his hands go like the vintage version of ‘Big Baby’ did back in 2018.
It looked like Miller was too tired to fight hard for the full three minutes of every round in the second half. So, instead of fighting hard, he would try to steal the rounds in the last 10 seconds when he would hear the clapper.
“I said from the moment I signed the contract that ‘I don’t want no California judges.’ I dug deep, and I let my hands go as much as possible,” said Miller. “I was picking up on my new technique that Boots and Bozy [Ennis] that those guys are going over there,” continued Miller.
Jarrell probably wouldn’t have won the fight if it had been staged in Nevada or elsewhere because Ruiz was landing the better shots and was impressive with his hand speed. Miller looked too tired for him to win a decision in this fight.
“I’m not a crybaby, but they got to give you a break sometime,” said Miller. It’s always something. At least eight or nine,” said Miller when asked how many rounds he felt he had won against Ruiz. “When he would have me with one good shot, I’d go two or three.”
Miller was taking too many big shots from Ruiz to win eight or nine rounds, which was a problem because he had the entire fight. Even in the twelfth, Ruiz landed massive shots that would have knocked out someone like Anthony Joshua. When judges see a fighter getting nailed like Miller, they won’t score the rounds in their favor.
Weight Cut and Impact on Performance
“I did feel the weight cut a little bit, dropping 40 pounds. I felt a little weaker as I went on. I thought, ‘You don’t need to knock everybody out, but sit on a little bit of the punches.’ Yeah, a couple of times I felt I had him out of there,” said Miller when asked if he felt that Ruiz was close to being knocked out at times in the fight.
Miller’s point about how his weight loss affects him is good. I thought the same thing because he looked drained and less powerful than in his previous fight, when he weighed 333 pounds against Daniel Dubois last December.
For anyone who has taken off 40 lbs, it takes away a lot of power from a person. Miller might have been better off coming into the fight at 333
“I thought Ruiz was about to quit a couple of times,” said trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis.
“I just couldn’t put the combinations together to double up on the shots. Andy broke his hand. His hand did look like it was broken,” said Miller about Ruiz.
By the eighth round, Ruiz looked dispirited and didn’t look happy about how the fight was going. Miller was just coming forward nonstop and landing a lot of punches.
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