Anthony Joshua Fires Jab At Jarrell Miller After Positive Test For EPO
Anthony Joshua fired a jab at his now-former opponent Jarrell Miller following news of the latter’s latest failed drug test for HGH and EPO.
Miller was set to challenge Joshua for his heavyweight titles at New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 1. However, he failed a drug test earlier this week for the banned substance GW1516.
“Big Baby” would subsequently fail further drug tests for human growth hormone (HGH) and most recently, GW1516 again and Erythropoietin (EPO) on Friday.
EPO notably increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, which would increase a fighter’s endurance and conditioning. “AJ” would make a reference to that with a tweet over the weekend.
Hearn Enraged At Miller
Both Joshua and Miller are promoted by Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, who was notably angry with the latter.
Miller first claimed innocence following the first failed test, stating he had never knowingly taken any banned substance. However, after the news of the third failed drug test, the American admitted his guilt in an Instagram post:
Hearn expanded on his anger at Miller as a result:
“This is one of the reasons I’m so enraged,” Hearn told iFL TV (via The Express). “Because I wanted to believe him. I’ve spent time with Jarrell Miller, I like the guy. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. And when he text me the other day ‘I swear I’ve never taken anything, this is bullshit’, I was going to reply. But I thought: ‘You know what, I’m not going to say anything because I actually want to believe you.’
“This comes out, and I thought: ‘Fool me once, never fool me twice.’ Because that is how I feel. He was saying it was sabotage, ‘I swear on kids’ lives’ – f**k off. People lie every day. But to do that in a fight – this is a fight! It’s dangerous enough as it is.”
Meanwhile, Joshua and his team are still scrambling for a short-notice opponent for his U.S. debut. The opponent is expected to be announced next week and looks likely to be former cruiserweight title challenger Michael Hunter.
