Anthony Joshua has promised Jarrell Miller he will “strip him of his soul” when he defends his world heavyweight titles as he responded to taunts from his US challenger he was a “posh” champion.
British boxer Joshua will fight in the United States for the first time when he defends his IBF, WBA, and WBO crowns at Madison Square Garden in the challenger’s home city of New York on 1 June.
It will be a clash between two unbeaten boxers, with Joshua boasting a record of 21 knockouts in 22 wins compared to Miller’s mark of 23-0-1, with 20 KOs.
The pair had already held a testy press conference in New York last week, with Miller proclaiming Joshua a “fraud” and “a p***y”.
Monday’s event was relatively restrained until Miller suggested London’s Joshua had had things “easy”.
Miller, making mock snoring noises during Joshua’s opening remarks, said: “The facial can’t fight for him, the fans can’t fight for him, he’s not the popular one, all I hear is Tyson Fury now — he (Joshua) is a sucker.”
Miller, alongside Joshua on a stage at a hotel near London’s Heathrow Airport, said: “I’ve been hearing AJ’s too posh, his nose is up here sometimes.
“For all the underdogs out there who are told they’re not good enough, I’m proof that with one or two cheeseburgers and hard work and dedication you can go far.”
Last week Brooklyn native Miller, a former kickboxer, was adamant he would stop Joshua in seven rounds, a claim he repeated on Monday.
“I don’t need to think, I’ll just get it done. You’ve got to go b***s to b***s. If I ever doubted myself I would not have made it this far,” he said.
“The game plan is to stop him in seven rounds. You know how I feel about AJ, and my back-story and where I come from and where we’re going.”
After abandoning plans to fight again at Wembley on 13 April, Joshua is now trying to break in on the US market where Deontay Wilder, the WBC heavyweight champion and Fury have held sway since their controversial draw in Los Angeles in December.
The 29-year-old Joshua last fought in September at Wembley, stopping Russia’s Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds.
–boxingscene
