“Big Baby” Miller/Warren And Taylor Victorious In Brooklyn

By Jason Pribila: BROOKLYN – “Big Baby” Jarrell Miller talked the talk and then walked thru Gerald Washington in a battle of heavyweights fought as chief support of the untelevised portion of the Adrien Broner – Mikey Garcia main event.

Miller (19-0-1, 17 KO) was vocal during the build up to this bout with Washington (18-2-1, 12 KO), whose only previous loss was in a title bout against Deontay Wilder. Miller wanted to stop Washington earlier than Wilder did in order to entice Wilder into a fight.

Miller is a good boxer, but he did not do himself any favors by weighting in at 297 lbs. He got away with it against Washington, but against a busier/bigger puncher, he may not be as successful.

Miller has a great personality and he is TV-friendly, but he does not possess the one-punch power to erase training deficiencies. The weight did help him walk thru Washington’s punches, but he often only fought in spurts.

Miller dominated Washington for most of the bout, often coming on strong during the final minute of the round. Washington had his last/best chance at the beginning of Round 6. He landed a combination to Miller’s chin. When Miller dropped his hands, Washington landed another combination that appeared to buckle Miller’s legs for a moment.

Miller shook it off, and again had Washington in trouble at the end of the round, landing jabs and hard rights against the ropes.

Washington continued to take punishment over the next two rounds, which prompted his corner to request that referee Gary Rosato stop the fight.

Miller took three more rounds to stop Washington than Wilder did back in February. Miller had not fought in over a year, and if he wants to get the public to demand a Wilder fight, he needs to fight two more times this year and hope his next bout will be televised.

A pair of former Olympians, Rau’shee Warren (15-2, 4 KO) and McJoe Arroyo (17-3, 8 KO) squared off in a battle of junior bantamweights. The bout was scheduled for 12 rounds as this was declared an eliminator for the IBF title.

After losing the WBA and IBO bantamweight titles via split decision in his last bout, Warren dropped down a weight class for this bout. Arroyo was hoping a victory would set him up to rematch Jerwin Ancajas, who handed him his first loss via unanimous decision.

Warren not only had the size advantage, but he also displayed early and often that he had the faster hands. Warren’s speed allowed him to attack by throwing combinations. If Arroyo would slip the first punch, he often got hit by the second or third punch.

Arroyo remained game the entire fight, and he often made Warren pay for admiring his work with his hands at his side.

“I would give myself a B-plus for that performance,” Warren said. “I wanted to make to use my jab and I felt like it really helped me win the fight.”

“I feel really good at this weight. Now it’s time for me to go get a strap. I haven’t been at this weight since the Olympics. I want to get these titles and then go down to 112 pounds for another title. First I want to take care of Jerwin Ancajas.”

Katie Taylor, an Olympic gold medalist from Ireland, made her US debut a successful one. She dominated the over-matched Jasmine Clarkson for three rounds. Clarkson’s corner had seen enough and waved off the bout after three frames.

Welterweight Danny Murray (2-1) pulled off the first upset of the evening when he won a majority decision over Kenny Robles (2-1, 1 KO). Robles was the 2016 New York Golden Gloves Champion, but he fought as if he only came to the ring with Plan A.

Robles seemed to load up on every shot, and when his big punches were failing to land, he failed to try to win a boxing match.

Two of the three judges approved of Murray’s consistency and ruled him the victor by scores of 39-37. The third score saw the bout even: 38-38.

In a battle of unbeaten welterweights, Irish Noel Murphy unanimously won a decision over Julio Cesar Sanchez. Murphy improved to 11-0, 2 KO. The loss was Sanchez’s first defeat. His record now stands at 11-1, 6 KO.

Jason Pribila is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He could be reached for questions or comments at pribs2000@gmail.com, and followed on twitter.com @PribsBoxing.