Jarrell Miller won a split decision at Madison Square Garden, but it was his flying wig gave everyone a cultural moment.
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller and Madison Square Garden turned into a full blown viral moment that will live forever in boxing folklore. It is rare that you have something you have NEVER seen before…but that is what happened.
The bout between “Big Baby” and Kingsley Ibeh was supposed to be about redemption and stamina, but it became the night a wig entered the ring conversation. Well, let’s take a step back.
Miller has never been shy about spectacle. In fact, it feels like he’s leaned into it. From missed mega fights to failed drug tests … the Brooklyn heavyweight has always had a way of pulling attention toward himself. On this night, he did not disappoint.
At Madison Square Garden, Miller seemed focused and composed, even if the fight was a snooze-fest. By the second round, his hairline began to shift. And then we had lift-off. As Kingsley Ibeh pressed forward, landing clean shots, us boxing saw something that was new. A wig getting pushed back…
The hairpiece had all but detached in the ring. After the round ended, Miller casually removed the wig and tossed it into the crowd like a souvenir T-shirt. The arena erupted with laughter, disbelief, and phones flying into the air. Social media did the rest within minutes, we did the same at AllHipHop.
Speaking afterward with DAZN interviewer Chris Mannix, Miller leaned into the craziness.
He blamed his baldness on some shampoo he found “at his mama’s house” and shrugged it off with humor. “You’ve got to make fun of yourself,” he said, before smoothly transitioning into a standard post fight breakdown as if nothing historic had just happened. Shampoo, eh?
This ended in a good way. Miller won by split decision over Kingsley Ibeh, taking two scorecards 97 to 93 while Ibeh earned one at 96 to 94. Miller improves to 27-1-2 with 22 knockouts. Ibeh falls to 16-3-1. Those were two big guys. All the best to them both.
Every once in a while something happens that reminds fans why live combat sports can never be scripted like the others. Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller did not just win a fight…he gave the culture a moment.
Here is more from Big Baby:
Here’s our old interview with Big Baby, before the wig-a-thon.
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