Miller Gives Pero His First Loss

Jarrell Miller gave previously unbeaten Lenier Pero his first loss, beating him in a WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator via a unanimous decision: 117-111, 117-111 and 115-113.

The win places Miller closer to a shot at unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Pero started sharp out of his southpaw stance, using his straight left to keep Miller at bay. By the fourth round, Miller began to close the distance. Weighing in at 305 pounds—a 54-pound advantage over Pero—Miller leaned on the Cuban, digging hooks to the body and uppercuts on the inside. Miller maintained the volume of over 1,000 punches thrown. By the 11th round, Pero appeared exhausted, as Miller secured the win. In his post-fight comments, Eddie Hearn named Deontay Wilder as a target for Miller.

Post-Fight

“For me, the American fight is Deontay Wilder against Jarrell Miller. Run it in New York. That’s a serious fight. Deontay’s come back with a good win against Chisora, I think that’s a big fight for American boxing,” Hearn

“I knew Pero was going be tough, and I had a feeling he was going move a lot more than that, to tell the truth. I wasn’t looking for the knockout. I just wanted to see what my conditioning was and get back to a lot of punches. And my team just said, ‘if the knockout is going to come, it’s going to come. And I felt really comfortable, and I really wanted the rounds. A couple of times I know I had him hurt but I’m like, ‘you know what? Work, baby, just work. Don’t look for it too much.’ And he caught me with a couple of shots. But it was good, though, getting the rust off,” Pero stated

I wasn’t looking for the knockout. I just wanted to see what my conditioning was and get back to a lot of punches. And my team just said, ‘if the knockout is going to come, it’s going to come. And I felt really comfortable, and I really wanted the rounds. “A couple of times I know I had him hurt but I’m like, ‘you know what? Work, baby, just work. Don’t look for it too much.’ And he caught me with a couple of shots. But it was good, though, getting the rust off.”

Full Card

Jarrell Miller def Lenier Pero by unanimous decision (117-111, 117-111, 115-113)

Alan Chaves def. Miguel Madueno in third-round KO

Damian Sosa def. Freudis Rojas via a unanimous decision (96-93 x 3)

Nishant Dev def. Juan Carlos Guerra with a second-round TKO

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