Day of Reckoning: Dubois vs. Miller

Daniel Dubois is on the comeback trail on Saturday night with a match-up against Jarrell Miller as part of the stacked ‘Day of Reckoning’ card at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

Dubois came close to ending Oleksandr Usyk’s reign as heavyweight world champion in his last bout, and is now looking to engineer another world title shot.

The Briton had Usyk down in the fifth round in Wroclaw in August but his body shot was controversially ruled a low blow. With Usyk given the maximum time to recover (he used just under four minutes of the five he had been allocated), the Ukrainian went on to win via a ninth round stoppage.

Miller is perhaps best known for a world title fight against Anthony Joshua that never was in 2019 after he tested positive for a banned substance. The American returned to the ring after a four-year absence in 2022 and has recorded three wins since, but Dubois represents his toughest assignment to date by some distance.

Tip 1 - Fight To Go The Distance No @ 11/20

This fight is scheduled for 10 rounds and it is the first time Dubois hasn’t been involved in a 12-round bout since his seventh professional outing in 2019. However, none of the Londoner’s bouts have ever reached an 11th round, and it seems unlikely that his clash with Miller will require the judges.

Dubois has put together an 18-2 record and he has a knockout rate of just under 95 per-cent. The 26-year-old has been taken the full distance just once, and that was a 10-round affair with experienced old pro Kevin Johnson back in 2018. Dubois’ two defeats have also come via stoppages, and Miller is also a fighter who rarely hears the final bell ring.

Miller has 26 wins, no defeats and one draw on his own record and he has claimed 22 stoppage victories during his career, while only one of his 27 bouts has required more than 10 rounds.

Both of these heavyweights clearly carry plenty of power and chances are one will win via a stoppage, potentially in the second half of the fight.

Tip 2 - Dubois To Win By KO, TKO or DQ @ 5/4

Miller is coming into this fight with an unbeaten record and he would have won the one draw on his CV had he not been deducted two points for pushing in a four round contest in the early stages of his career,

However, ‘Big Baby’ has never managed to fight at the highest level, for a variety of reasons, and Dubois represents a step up in class for the 35-year-old.

Dubois has been in some high-profile fights and he raised his reputation with his performance against Usyk despite the defeat. ‘Dynamite’ felt the blow that floored Usyk in the fifth shouldn’t have been ruled a low shot, and in his mind he probably feels he should be a world champion right now.

Whether that is true or not is up for debate, but what Dubois did prove during his bout with Usyk is he can land a big shot on the most elusive fighter in the heavyweight division and he should find Miller a far easier target to hit.

Dubois perhaps has a few questions to answer over his own desire as there was the suggestion he perhaps gave up a bit too easily against Usyk and against Joe Joyce in 2020.

Those comments could be considered unfair, however, as he had sustained a serious eye injury in the defeat to Joyce and by the time Usyk stopped him he was getting caught regularly without landing anything meaningful himself.

This fight against Miller is a chance at redemption in a way and an opportunity to work towards another title bid, and he will be eager to make a statement in Saudi Arabia by recording an early finish.

Miller remains a bit of an unknown quantity and is untested at world level, with his biggest wins coming against Mariusz Wasch in 2017 and Tomasz Adamek the following year.

There is an element of uncertainty here but Dubois clearly looks the more likely winner, given the level of opponent he has faced - and beaten - previously, and he should be able to get the job done inside the distance against the veteran American.