Hearn mentions Luis Ortiz as possible fight replacement
In an interview with iFL TV’s Kugan Cassius, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn stated that heavyweight Luis Ortiz was the first names that came up of as a replacement for Jarrell Miller on Wednesday. Miller was slated in a championship fight against multiple heavyweight division titleholder Anthony Joshua on June 1st but news broke yesterday that he tested positive for the banned substance GW1516.
Hearn stated in the interview that he heard about the adverse sample after Dan Rafael of ESPN broke the story late last night.
The test results, which became known Tuesday, were from a random Voluntary Anti-Doping Association urine test that Miller submitted to them back on March 20.
They’ll await the B sample before officially writing off Miller for the fight but even Hearn in the interview stated “It don’t look good” in hopes of that happening.
We have been informed by VADA that there has been an adverse finding in Jarrell Miller’s sample collected on March 20th, 2019. We are working with all relevant parties and will update with more details soon. AJ’s preparation continues for June 1st at MSG.
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) April 17, 2019
When asked about the possible rescheduling of the fight, Hearn quickly shot that notion down due to the tickets already sold for the fight.
“We haven’t talked about a new date. We’ve sold 17,000 tickets with 10,000 Brits flying out, so we’ll deliver,” Hearn said.
‘[Ortiz] was the first name he gave me last night. I called him and just said, ‘mate, I’ve got terrible news, Miller’s failed a drug test’. He didn’t even sound that surprised. He said, ‘Okay, who’s next?’ ‘I asked who he wanted and he said absolutely anyone, no problem,” Hearn told IFL TV.
According to Hearn, there are several possible options and they would love Ortiz to be the guy.
“Love that fight, that is an ideal scenario,” Hearn said. “That is a big fight. My feeling from their team is he won’t be ready.”
Hearn, when asked what happens next, stated “f– it, were gonna have some fun with this. Do what you want. Call ’em out, tweet it!”.
We’ll see who is next in line for Joshua, but one fighter already taking Hearn up on this proposal is heavyweight Michael Hunter.
Call me Eddie. https://t.co/1ck4qYJA19
— Michael Hunter ll (@MichaelHunterII) April 17, 2019
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
