A sanctioning body is the first oversight body out of the gate responding to the Jarrell Miller PED positives.

The WBA, the Panama based body led by Gilberto Mendoza, announced this afternoon that they would ban “Big Baby” for a period of six months, retroactive to March.

On April 16, it was announced that Miller, who had been slated to fight June 1 at MSG versus Anthony Joshua, had tested positive in a VADA test for banned chemicals. Then, another PED positive…first GW1516, then HGH..and then a third shoe dropped, this one of the EPO variety.

Right away, planners yanked Miller from the title challenge against the Brit Joshua and began a search for a sub. Discussion ensued, what would the penalty for Miller be, being that he wouldn’t be punished by the New York commission, because his license had lapsed in NY. So, now we know…sanctioning bodies are stepping to the fore, and the WBA is the first one to weigh in.

According to the WBA, Miller will be withdrawn from its rankings, wrote Steve Kim of ESPN. “He will also have to register with VADA at his own expense and undergo random testing. After his six-month suspension ends on Sept. 19, if he intends to return to the WBA rankings, he must submit those test results,” the Kim post said.

The WBA didn’t at press time post anything to their website about how they came to this determination. Did they interview Miller and get a sense of how and why three different chemicals were in his system?

Mauricio Sulaiman heads up the WBC. I messaged him to ask his take on the WBA ruling. “I haven’t seen the WBA ruling, in fact, I don’t care for any other rulings as we can only be accountable for what we do,” said Sulaiman.

“The WBC position on Miller is simple. The WBC expelled him from any WBC participation as he did not enroll in the Clean Boxing Program, and he never attempted to do so.”

Miller is not ranked by the WBC; he is now rated No. 2 by the WBA, which has Joshua as their “A” champ and lists Manuel Charr as their “B” beltholder. Joshua also holds the IBF and WBO versions. The IBF doesn’t have Miller in their top 15, while the WBO has Miller at No. 3.

Mike Mazzulli is president of the Association of Boxing Commissions; he reacted to the WBA ruling today. “I commend the WBA but it may be over a year before Miller fights in United States,” Mazzulli told me. “It all depends on the individual commission where he applies for a license. It is public knowledge that he tested positive twice (Miller tested positive at a kickboxing event in 2014, in California) so therefore the punishment needs to fit the crime.”

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