By: Sean Crose
“Jarrell is a good talker,” says undefeated heavyweight Bogdan Dinu of his opponent this weekend, the one and only Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, “but I don’t care, I catch guys like him every morning.” Although widely unknown in America, Dinu, who is a Romanian policeman, aims to make his presence felt when he battles rising star Miller at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas on Saturday. “The talking stops on Saturday night,” he adds. “It’s so exciting for me to fight in America, it’s a great opportunity. My team have given me an amazing chance and its’ up to me to take it.”
Dinu, whose record stands at 18-0 with 14 knockouts, isn’t just a tomato can meant to keep Miller busy. He’s got experience with some big names. In fact, he’s been a sparring partner for heavyweight kingpin Anthony Joshua. “I’ve sparred many excellent fighters like Anthony Joshua,” says Dinu. “That’s great experience, he’s a great champion and a real gentleman. He deserves his place as the best in the world.” Dinu may not have big names on his resume, but he certainly has put in some time with top level competitors.
“It was a great test for me to see where I am,” he says of the Joshua experience, “and being with AJ motivated me, taught me a lot and it was valuable. We did a lot of rounds before Wladimir Klitschko and the Carlos Takam fights.”
Miller, who boasts of a record of 22-0-1, with 19 knockouts, is one of the top names in the heavyweight division, a rising star with confidence, swagger, and ambition to burn. Miller makes no secret of the fact that he wants to face Joshua. Up until this point, however, the Brooklyn native hasn’t taken a single opponent lightly. Dinu knows the world is his, should he pull off the upset this weekend.
As promoter Matchroom Boxing states: “Dinu and Miller’s clash will open the doors to some of the biggest names in the division in 2019, and ‘Big Baby’ Miller has been typically outspoken in calling to face a big-name British fighter should he emerge with the win in Kansas.” Miller also “told Dinu…that he will KO him in spectacular style.” Dinu, who Matchroom states “is a special services police officer” in his homeland, has clearly heard such talk before. Miller, however, has always been able to back his talk up. Not that it bothers Dinu leading up to Saturday.