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Promoter Salita Scaling To New Heights/”Big Baby” Miller Thisclose To Title Crack

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Promoter Salita Scaling To New Heights/”Big Baby” Miller Thisclose To Title Crack

Promoter Dmitriy Salita should get more credit for his rapid rise in the sphere, arguably.

The Ukraine-born boxer transitioned from fighting to promoting only a few years ago, and he’s on pace to surpass his resume as a pugilist, at this pace.

From his “Brooklyn Brawls” start, Salita, age 36, has now helped re-make Detroit into a fight city, with his “Detroit Brawl” series. His relentlessness is a component in the current push to elevate Olympic gold winner Claressa Shields into a force in the pro game, and while he keeps 2, his oversight of Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is a truly superlative resume bullet point.

Miller, the 21-0-1 ultra heavyweight, is beating everyone put in front of him and is thisclose to getting a title shot.

I asked Salita for his take on Miller’s Saturday night Barclays Center/HBO outing..

..in which he scored a UD12 over Johann Duhaupas, a durable Frenchman who’d challenged WBC titlist Deontay Wilder in 2015.

“Jarrell was very impressive,” Salita said. “His speed, punch out-put out and ring generalship were very impressive. I believe he is the total package and best heavyweight in the world. Brooklyn hasn’t had a guy like Jarrell since the days of Tyson and Bowe and there may not be another one for 20-30 years. This is an exciting time for the heavyweight division and very soon the world heavyweight title is coming back to its destined location Brooklyn, NY!”

Of course, Salita, being his promoter, would be inclined to analyze the Miller outing and look on the brightest of sides. And of course, the world we are in encourages negativity, with everyone possessing a platform and a critical eye, and being willing and able to shout that from the roof tops. People take aim at Miller’s weight, and think he’d be better suited 40 pounds lighter. That may or may not be..

..but while the discussion rages, Salita keeps getting him on Showtime and HBO.

Salita is also grooming young guns to vie for crowns and eyeballs, while Miller rises in stature.

“Shojohan Ergashev did a great job winning his first title, he went ten rounds for the first time and dominated the very durable Zhimin Wang,” Salita added. The Uzbek Ergashev..

..went to 12-0, 11 KOs over the 10-2 Wang. “This fight was exactly the education he needed to progress to the next level.”

Now, back to Miller. The big lad is edging up to where a sweet payday and/or tile shot beckons. Can Salita give us a clue what’s next for him? “A big fight,” Salita said, “this was a WBA title eliminator.” Manuel Charr owns the WBA “regular” belt, and he’s slated to meet Fres Oquendo Sept. 29, maybe Salita can work some magic and slide MIller in to meet Charr before then?

Follow the Salita push up the promotional ladder here.

Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.

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