Heavyweight boxer Jarrell Miller has threatened a class action lawsuit against his long-time promoter Dmitriy Salita of Salita Promotions. The update comes after the 36-year-old hopped on Instagram on Tuesday to reveal the fight against Derek Chisora, which was being reported to take place on February 8 next year, is off.
Salita and Miller have been working together since ‘Big Baby’ started boxing, some sources say their first fight together was back in 2011 during Miller’s second professional bout. It was in 2014 when Miller signed with Salita’s promotion company, then known as Star of David Promotions, and Greg Cohen Promotions.
Their relationship hit the first road bump in 2016 when Miller claimed he was a free agent, but Salita countered, suggesting that was not true. Despite this, Miller continued working with the two promotional companies, eventually getting a title shot in 2019 against Anthony Joshua for his unified heavyweight title.
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However, Miller tested positive for an array of banned substances, which resulted in the fight getting canceled. Andy Ruiz Jr. would get the title shot instead, and later, Ruiz Jr. defeated Joshua in a huge upset. From June 2022 to March 2023, Miller picked up three victories, and in the very next month, he spoke of leaving Salita.
In November of the same year, Miller’s promoter won a court case against him, getting awarded upwards of $4.8 million in damages. Some sources say that Salita had accused Miller of breach of contract. Regardless, in the latest feud with his promoter, Miller blamed Salita for the cancellation of the Chisora fight.
Jarrell Miller on Instagram today, confirming the Derek Chisora fight is off amid his ongoing dispute with Dmitry Salita…
[🎥 @BIGBABYMILLER] pic.twitter.com/lhT4EobKeT
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) November 26, 2024
“The fight with Chisora is off… The fight is off because of this little piece of s**t named Dmitriy Salita, the dirtiest human being I’ve ever met in my entire life,” he said in the video shared on Instagram. “Salita is the worst human being that’s ever walked the planet… [He] and his dirty-a** lawyer, John Wirt, compulsive liars… He’s exercising his first and last right refusal and blatantly made up an entire story to try to get more money out of me.”
“So many fighters have [walked] away from this crook and he does everything in his power to continue to derail my [career] and steal from me making false statements this guy is the definition of GREED S.O.B is THE DEVILS CHILD,” he wrote in his Instagram story. However, Miller’s fury wasn’t over, he proceeded to threaten Salita with a lawsuit.
“Listen to me when I say this, class action lawsuit,” he wrote in a following Instagram story. “This [guy] has fu$&@ over so many fighters[.] Just wait. @dazn watch yourself. [You are] dealing with A real piece of s&@&.” While all this was happening, Salita responded to the allegations.
Dmitriy Salita responds to allegations from Jarrell Miller
According to a report from Boxing Scene, they spoke to Salita’s publicist over text messages regarding the situation and got Salita’s statement on the matter. “Most recently, we were disappointed to learn that he turned down the fight with Derek Chisora,” the statement said while recounting everything the company had done for the boxer, including securing the massive Joshua fight.
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“For him to imply that I am a liar and a cheat, among other things, is not only categorically false, it is also hurtful personally and professionally,” the statement added. Being a former fighter himself, Salita claimed he and his company would always do the right thing for their boxers, noting, “The fact is that I have honored my agreement with Jarrell from day [one] through today. And he should do the same.”
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When asked about Miller’s accusation that Salita’s company was behind the canceled Chisora fight, the promoter’s statement said, “I cannot go into the finer points of our agreement, but the fact is that Jarrell had the opportunity on two occasions in the past few days to say yes to the fight with Chisora and he refused.” Salita added that he was backing the fight the entire time, and now the whole team is disappointed with its failure.
That said, it appears that the tumultuous relationship between Jarrell Miller and Dmitriy Salita has reached a boiling point, as Miller is threatening legal action against the promoter. However, it’s yet to be seen what’s in the cards for the duo. What do you make of this entire situation?
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