DANIEL DUBOIS VS JARRELL MILLER - FULL PREVIEW

A fight which very much came out of the blue, Britain’s Daniel Dubois takes on Brooklyn’s Jarrell Miller in a heavyweight clash that cannot disappoint.

Dubois comes into the fight off the back of a lively 2023 both inside and outside of the ring. After beating Kevin Lerena a year ago, the Londoner stepped into face unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk back in August.

He eventually suffered a second stoppage defeat of his career, despite dropping Usyk with a body shot which many people thought was fair, although it was deemed a low blow by the referee.

With 19 wins from 21 fights, 18 of which have arrived via stoppage, Dubois is still only a baby in heavyweight terms, and he’ll be looking to return to winning ways here.

Standing in the opposing corner on Saturday is the outspoken, hard-hitting and controversial undefeated American Miller.

Miller burst onto the scene back in 2019 when he was due to face Anthony Joshua for the unified heavyweight championship of the world.

It didn’t go to plan for Miller, though, who was forced to withdraw from the fight after failing three drug tests. He didn’t receive a ban due to the fact he didn’t hold a licence at the time, but he was subsequently suspended for two years by the NSAC after failing another test.

Since his return to the ring last year, Miller has stopped two of his three opponents, with his most recent triumph coming against Lucas Browne back in March.

This is a must-win bout for both fighters, albeit for completely different reasons. Miller hasn’t been forgiven by many boxing fans for his failed drug tests and a loss to Dubois will very much push the 35-year-old right to the back of the queue for a big fight in general, never mind a world title shot.

Victory for the American, though, could give him the platform to talk himself into a fight with Joshua, which would undoubtedly be a career-high payday and undoubtedly be of interest to the majority of boxing fans.

Dubois, meanwhile, can’t really afford to lose to someone of Miller’s calibre. Losses to Usyk and Joe Joyce are acceptable, but with Miller, it would be seen as a real upset to the 26-year-old.

Time, however, is on his side, despite the fact he is nowhere near his heavyweight peak. A win will put him in a good position for one of the vacant world titles once Fury and Usyk fight it out in February.