Miller and Pero will meet Saturday night at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas in a fight that could give the winner a much stronger position in the heavyweight division. At Thursday’s news conference, Miller made it clear he intended to make the preparation as raucous as the fight.
“It’s like a Lotus Elise sports car: quite swift, not very powerful, nimble in the corners,” Miller said. “I’m like a huge garbage truck and I’m going to fucking run him over.”
Although he still doesn’t have a name, the 37-year-old version of Miller is fighting for survival. Since his return in 2023, his record hasn’t screamed “title contender.”
For Miller, the fight against Pero is his last chance to stay relevant. At the age of 37, another loss, especially to a wiser, younger Cuban like Pero, will likely relegate him to an opponent for the rest of his career.
He still tries to apply that same Brooklyn swagger to annoy Pero, but the stakes are completely different now. In 2019, he was an undefeated contender with the world at his feet. In 2026, he will be a veteran who wants to prove that he is not just a “garbage truck” with a dead battery.
The Brooklyn heavyweight has long relied on pressure, high intensity and personality, and he promised more of the same against the Cuban.
“It’s not going to be pretty. He may run away, but I’m going to grab his ass and when I do, his goose will be cooked, plain and straightforward,” Miller said.
Pero didn’t match Miller’s acting, but he dismissed the argument and said the real answer would come after the first bell.
“He said a lot of nonsense, but it doesn’t affect me mentally in any way,” Pero said. “I’m going to go in there and break him. I talk with my fists in the ring.”
Promoter Eddie Hearn described the contest as an significant heavyweight fight in which the winner will take a significant step towards greater opportunities.
Miller missed out on a fight with Anthony Joshua in 2019 that would have made him a opulent man and set him up for life. He tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently replaced by Andy Ruiz Jr.
That huge “what if” question must have haunted him every time he looked at his bank account. That $5 million plus the payout for the Joshua fight was Miller’s golden ticket to the elite level of the sport. Instead, he watched as Andy Ruiz Jr. walks into Madison Square Garden, shocks the world and becomes a global superstar while Miller was sidelined and serving probation.
If Pero can handle the early pressure and take advantage of Miller’s aging gas tank, the “goose is cooked” statement could prove prophetic for Miller’s career.