DANIEL DUBOIS’ reinforced heart finally broke Jarrell Miller’s spiteful tongue and iron jaw.
The timid 26-year-old heavyweight surrendered in his two previous defeats, in August to Oleksandr Usyk and in 2020 against Joe Joyce, and looked a broken boy.
But with the eyes of the supercritical boxing world – and ringside Cristiano Ronaldo – he battered the drug cheat who tried to rob Anthony Joshua in 2019.
And stopped him in the tenth and final round to exorcise so many demons for the loveable lad.
Dubois said: “I am glad I came through it, I showed my heart, I showed my heart.
“I am a proud fighter, I want to go forward, this was an important fight for me. I had to dig very deep but I am glad I did it.
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“I had to prove it to myself., that I am a real fighter who can be a champion and I silenced a lot of doubters tonight. I had to finish strong.
Big Baby gave me a good fight and we can be friends for life now.
Miller had spent all week teasing and insulting the shy and dedicated Brit, digging away at his quiet nature and intellect compared to his attention-grabbing stunts and sumo shape.
Because Miller chose this week to convert to Islam and share the experience on social media, the Saudi crowd backed him, probably unaware of his grubby past as a life-endangering steroid cheat.
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Dubois made the perfect start with a whipped left hook and a straight right hand slashing through Miller’s guard.
But the thick-thighed 25stoner has a granite chin too and he shrugged off dozens of shots and waddled forward fearlessly.
Dynamite Dan had to attack the fleshy bod but he was warned for one very low accidental blow that lifted up Miller’s skirt.
Dubois was getting dragged into Miller’s perfect type of brawl in the second, before a stiff jab made the American stagger backwards,.
But instead of leading with his once-brilliant jab, he got sucked into a head-butting contest and shipped heavy shots before the bell saved him from a dark moment.
But he got sucked into a shootout at close-range again and neglected his jab and fitness to slug it out with a human breeze block who sucks up punishment like it’s fun.
Miller started round four barking “come on you bitch” but he was briefly silenced by another firm but rare jab.
Then the Englishman was whacked and wobbled by an uppercut-hook combo that stung.
Dubois was letting Miller lean all over him, sucking up all of his energy, it was a worrying watch.
Thankfully threw more jabs in the fifth than all four previous rounds combined but Miller was showing freakish resistance that was hopefully not boosted by more chemicals.
Both men looked to be slowing down under all the pressure and pain so we needed Dubois to dig deeper than ever.
Dubois’ left eye started to look worryingly wounded by the sixth and, the same peeper Joyce battered shut.
Thankfully in round seven, 17st DDD lured Miller onto an uppercut after fancy footwork and clever defence in the opening minute impressed the crowd.
Round eight was the best of Dubois’ latest litmus test as he used Miller’s giant 333lbs frame for target practice.
Almost every jab, right hand and body hook landed but the ref gave him a final warning for leading with his head and he could not afford a deducted point in the final two sessions.
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A textbook four-punch combination was the perfect start to round nine for Dubois, Miller was taking dozens of blows and returning very little.
And with only a few seconds remaining, Dubois pummeled Miller for AJ and himself in a win that should fire him back into the big-time mix.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
