“Make sure you’re clean,” shouted Don Charles at Jarrell Miller during the press conference to announce Miller’s fight with Daniel Dubois on the December 23 show in Saudi Arabia.
Charles was referring to Miller’s previous failed tests for PEDs, while also going in to bat for Dubois as Miller started to work his vocal cords on the stage.
Miller talked a lot of smack, and even main eventers Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder were dragged into his crosshairs.
There are plenty in the sport who are upset with Miller getting the opportunity on such a significant card given his past indiscretions, but Charles was not falling for Miller’s big talk.
“What I find with people who are so vocal, they are usually insecure individuals,” said Charles. “It’s a cover, that’s a shield, that’s how they deal with their fears and insecurities, so I for one, don’t read anything into it. And he [Miller]’s wasting his time. Daniel doesn’t care at all, with any kind of garbage talk. Daniel does his talking in the ring with his fists.”
Charles also confirmed that they insisted that testing would be in place for performance enhancing drugs ahead of the event.
“Most definitely,” he said. “The lawyers, everybody is involved here. We would not have taken this fight unless certain stipulations were in place, because obviously we want to have a fight from an even playing field. We don’t want anything afterwards, ‘He’s been caught again’. I mean, how many times is this guy going to get caught before he gets a life ban?
“Generally, not just him, anybody who cheats should get an automatic life ban.”
Then, reverting back to Miller – who claimed he will be throwing 80 punches a round – and his fighting talk, Charles added: “When he gets Daniel’s gloves shoved down his throat, that dirty mouth of his, then he won’t be in a position to throw any punches at all.”
Queensberry Promotions head Frank Warren, the centrepiece of a complex promotional puzzle, confirmed the entire fight card – announced six weeks before the show – would be VADA tested.
“They’re all being tested by VADA and he [Miller] is licensed by Nevada,” said Warren. “And if anyone fails a test, they won’t fight.”
