Miller vs Dinu, November 17th

The fight between Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller vs Bogdan Dinu has been finalized. It was announced last Saturday at Madison Square Garden, just before the start of the Jacobs v Derevyanchenko fight card.

The thirty-year-old Jarrell Miller (22-0-1, 19 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York and the thirty-two-year-old Dinu, of Romania, with a record of 18-0 and 14 KOs, will face each other for the vacant WBA secondary belt on November 17^th.  The winner will have an opportunity to fight Anthony Joshua. Both Miller and Joshua are promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who signed a long-term deal with DAZN, the new sports streaming service.

Apparently, the WBA mandatory challenger, Fres Oquendo, turned down a $500,000 offer based on concerns over the mandatory VADA testing for the fight scheduled just a few weeks away.

According to ESPN, Manuel Charr is expected to be stripped of his title due to a positive drug test that resulted in the cancellation of a September defense. If that is the case, Miller vs Dinu will become a regular heavyweight WBA title fight.

“I’ve seen this guy in camp with Anthony Joshua numerous times. They’ve had great sparring together for two or three camps,” Hearn said of Dinu. “He’s a very, very talented undefeated heavyweight.”

“I know he’s coming to fight. I know he’s in shape,” said Miller. “He’s been in training camp. I’m gonna put on a show. I’m going in for the kill. I’m really motivated. Come Nov. 17, I’m always going for the knockout. My ultimate goal is to fight the bigger names in the division, Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder — you know I can’t stand that guy.”

Junior Middleweight Brandon Rios recently signed a multi-fight contract with Hearn. Rios (34-41-1, 25 KOs) is scheduled to face Ramon Alvarez (27-6-3, 16 KOs), the older brother of Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez. Both fighters are thirty-two-years old.

Nico Hernandez (5-0, 4 KOs), is also scheduled to fight in Kansas, with an opponent to be announced later. The twenty-two-year-old Flyweight prospect was the 2016 US Olympic bronze medalist in the Light Flyweight division.

The card was originally scheduled for Atlantic City, New Jersey, but was changed to Kansas once the main event was finalized and the card was more complete.  Both Rios and Hernandez are natives of Kansas and are excited that the fights will be held in their home state.

Also featured on the card are Claressa Shields (6-0, 2 KO) of Flint, Michigan and Hanna Rankin (5-2, 1 KO) of Scotland.  Shields is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a unified women’s Middleweight world titlist. She will have an opportunity to defend her championship and also to win the WBC Middleweight title.

Gabriel Rosado (24-11, 14 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA, and Luis Arias (18-1, 9 KOs) of Milwaukee, WI, are scheduled for a middleweight fight.  Rosado is a two-time world title challenger and Arias suffered a loss last November to Daniel Jacobs.  Ricky Burns (42-7-1, 15 KOs) of Scotland will be featured in a lightweight bout.  He is a former three-division world titlist.

This promotion will be held on Saturday, November 17^th at the Kansas Star Casino Arena in Mulvane, Kansas.  The doors will open at 5:15, with the ringwalk scheduled for 10:00 pm. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.

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