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HBO Boxing Preview: Miller vs. Duhaupas, Jacobs vs. Sulecki
By: William Holmes
On Saturday night the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York will showcase two fights to be broadcast on HBO’s World Championship Boxing Series. Daniel Jacobs, who took Gennady Golovkin the distance and is considered by many to be one of the top middleweights of the country, will take on Maciej Sulecki in a WBA Middleweight Eliminator in the main event of the evening.
The co-main event will feature another WBA Eliminator, but this time in the heavyweight division, as rising Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller will take on Johan Duhaupas.
The undercard will also feature a WBA/IBF Women’s Lightweight Title unification between Katie Taylor and Victoria Bustos which may get some mention on the HBO broadcast
The following is a preview of the two planned telelvised fights.
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (20-0-1) vs. Johan Duhaupas (37-4); WBA Heavyweight Eliminator
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is one of the top talents in the heavyweight division. He previously competed in both boxing and MMA and was very successful in it. In fact he was undefeated for three years in kickboxing before turning pro as a boxer. He was also a finalist in the NY Golden Gloves Championship as an amateur.
Miller is in the midst of his prime and approximately eight years younger than Johan Duhaupas. Both boxers have been fairly active recently. Miller fought twice in 2017 and three times in 2016. Duhaupas has also been very active, which is surprising for a man his age. He fought three times in 2017 and three times in 2016.
Miller usually towers over his opponents, but he will be giving up one inch in height and about four and half inches in reach to Duhaupas. Both boxers have experienced recent success. Nine of the last ten opponents that Miller has fought were defeated by stoppage. Four of the past five fights that Duhaupas has fought resulted in a stoppage victory.
Miller has defeated the likes of Mariusz Wach, Gerald Washington, Fred Kassi, Donovan Dennis, and Joey Dawejko. Miller has never been defeated.
Duhaupas has defeated the likes of Jarno Rosberg, Robert Helenius, and Manuel Charr. His losses were to Alexander Povetkin, Deontay Wilder, Erkan Teper, Francesci Ouabeti.
When you compare Miller’s age, strength, and willingness to test himself against good competition in both boxing and MMA to Duhaupas; it becomes clear that Miller should be the heavy favorite in this fight. He could prove a tough challenge for either Joshua or Wilder in the near future.
Daniel Jacobs (33-2) vs. Maciej Sulecki (26-0); WBA Middleweight Eliminator
When Canelo tested positive for clenbuterol, even though he claimed tainted meat as the culprit, many boxing writers placed Daniel Jacobs as the #2 guy in the middleweight division mainly based on his extremely close match with Gennady Golovkin.
His opponent, Maciej Sulecki, is relatively unknown to the American audience but has never tasted defeat.
Jacobs has the better amateur career of the two. He won the National Golden Gloves Tournament as a middleweight and was a US National Champion as an amateur.
Sulecki will have about an inch and a half height advantage on Jacobs on Saturday night, but Jacobs will have a rather large five inch reach advantage. Jacobs will also have a large power advantage. He has stopped twenty nine of his opponents while Sulecki has only stopped ten.
Jacobs two losses were a shocking upset to Dmitry Pirog and a close defeat to current middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin. He has defeated the likes of Luis Arias, Sergio Mora, Peter Quillin, Caleb Truax, Jarrod Fletcher, and Ishe Smith. Sulecki has never tasted defeat and has defeated the likes of Jack Culcay, Damian Bonelli, Hugo Centeno Jr., and Grzegorz Proksa.
This fight looks like a mismatch. Jacobs is fighting an opponent who has never faced the level of opposition of him in his hometown who doesn’t have knockout power.