Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua insists he would have beaten Jarrell Miller regardless of his use of performance enhancing drugs.
Miller was a late scratching for their June 1 clash at New York’s Madison Square Garden after testing positive to three banned substances in a drugs test conducted by VADA.
Joshua will now square off against Andy Ruiz Jr on the same date in what will be his long-awaited US debut.
Despite the advantages Miller would have had in the fight, Joshua insists he would have happily fought the Brooklyn banger under the circumstances.
“I would have fought Miller on PEDs,” the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion told iFL TV.
“It’s a fight at the end of the day, it is what it is. No issue. What Miller chooses to do or the governing body chooses to do is nothing to do with me, as long as I can crack on and do my job.
“I don’t think he could have beat me on PEDs anyway. It would have been a good fight, it would have been a tough fight.”
Joshua wouldn’t rule out a fight with Miller in the future if the opportunity presented itself.
“I was looking forward to punishing him, I was looking forward to punishing Miller to be fair,” Joshua added.
“If it’s a fight that was to go ahead, I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to fight anyone, so why not?
“Let’s be optimistic about the situation.”