By: Sean Crose
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller has had a bit of a wild career. The heavyweight took things to a new level Saturday night in Brooklyn, however as he lost his toupee against Kingsley Ibeh during a scheduled ten round heavyweight affair. Miller, who at 37 years of age hadn’t fought in over a year was seen as the more talented of the two men. Yet Ibeh who had gone almost exactly six years since suffering a loss, appeared to be edging things early on. Then – it happened. Miller took a shot that sent the front part of this hairline towards the back of his head. Not only was he performing under par, he was now losing his toupee.
To his lasting credit, Miller made the most of an embarrassing situation by tossing the toupee into the crowd between rounds and laughing it off. And, sure enough, he got back in the fight. Not that it was a classic. Indeed, this was a slow paced affair with two enormous men lobbing heavy blows at each other. Ultimately, Miller ended up gassing his man through grinding body work. Outgunned, Ibeh fought on but was clearly exhausted. He didn’t look good, but Miller was at least able to pound his way to a decision victory. Still, it’s hard to imagine people remembering the fight beyond the toupee incident.
There had been a time not all that long ago that Miller was one of the big names in the big man’s division. Bad PED tests derailed matters however. He’s never truly been able to get back into the mix since (for now at least). With that being said, he’s a likeable guy, Miller, so it’s easy to root for the man to succeed. “You’ve got to roll with the punches,” he said, “and have fun, man.” Fair enough.
