Anthony Joshua to face new opponent after Jarrell Miller fails drugs test
Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller posted a video on social media, admitting that he has "messed up" after failing a doping test.
Tuesday 21 May 2019 11:37, UK
Anthony Joshua is to face a new opponent for his next fight after Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller failed a drugs test.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who had already started looking for alternatives after Miller failed an initial Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) test, wrote on social media on Friday: "We have now received news from VADA that Jarrell Miller has now failed a second separate test for a further substance.
"AJ's June 1 opponent will be announced next week. If you don't think you can beat him clean then delete my number!"
In a video posted to Instagram overnight, Miller admitted he "messed up", saying it was "time to do right" and vowing to "come back better".
The New Yorker's participation in the planned heavyweight bout in his home city became under threat after he failed the initial VADA test, which meant he was denied a licence for the contest at Madison Square Garden.
But Miller retained the right to request a further sample and to reapply for that licence to challenge Joshua, in what will be the British champion's US debut.
However, a second doping violation was found, meaning the fight is off the cards, Mr Hearn said.
Responding to the initial adverse finding on Tuesday, Miller wrote on Instagram to say he had "never knowingly taken any banned substance and when I found out the news I was totally shocked".
But on Friday, he struck a different tone, telling fans: "I messed up. I made a bad call. [There were] a lot of ways to handle the situation, I handled it wrongly and I'm paying a price for it.
"I messed up a big opportunity and I'm hurting on the inside. My heart is bleeding right now - I hurt my family, my friends, my team, my supporters.
"But, I'm owning up to it. I'm going to deal with it. I'm going to correct it. I'm going to come back better and I'm humbled by the experience."
Miller said boxers "go through a lot" and he did not want to give his fellow fighters a "bad name".
An adverse finding for GW1516, a metabolic modulator also known as cardarine and endurobol, was discovered in a sample on 20 March.
:: Watch Anthony Joshua's next fight live on Sky Sports Box Office on 1 June