The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHAT happened to Dencil “Death” Miller?

That’s the million dollar question that was asked as the veteran lightweight refused to get dressed to fight the youthful Lester Brown Jr on the undercard of the “Pain and Glory” professional boxing card on Friday night.

As the sport made its return after almost a two-year hiatus, Miller was scheduled to come out of retirement. He showed up in the Rainforest Theatre at the Wyndham resort on Cable Beach, but he didn’t appear in the ring.

In his defence, Miller said he felt he was treated unfairly by the Bahamas Boxing Commission when he was told by Alvin Sargent that he and his corner had to pay their fee or they won’t be allowed to fight.

“I told him that I had already paid the fee when I went to Dr Patrick Roberts’ office for the medical check-up,” Miller said. “He said he didn’t have anything on record and so I wasn’t allowed to put my clothes in the training room. I told him that if there was any misunderstanding, I should have still be allowed to put my stuff in the room until it was cleared up.”

Miller said there’s no reason why he was treated the way he was, but as a 36-year-old, he just simply wanted to make a contribution to the sport.

Sargent said he received all of Miller’s payment that was required, but it was obvious that there was some underlining factor as to why he didn’t fight and he nor the BBC in any way prevented him from fighting.

Promoter Tommy Stubbs said they bent over backwards to try and accommodate Miller.

“Dencil had some issues, but it seemed that no matter how we tried to encourage him, he wouldn’t fight,” Stubbs said. ”It’s unfortunate, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.”

Brown Jr, accompanied by Brown Sr, said he felt Miller was just scared of the beating that he was going to put on him. “He made a complaint that someone said something to him and he was pissed off,” Brown Jr said. “But he was scared. He didn’t want to fight me. I was going to beat him to death. I don’t know why he pulled out. I was very disappointed.”

His father noted that at the weigh-in on Thursday, he noticed the fear that Miller had in his eyes.

“I told my son how I saw the fear in Dencil’s face. I had a feeling that he was looking for a way to pull out of this fight,” the senior Brown said. “We are so disappointed because we worked so hard for this fight. We had a good training camp for the past two months and it’s a let down that he couldn’t display his talent.”

Brown Sr said they will go back to the gym and continue to train, but they will be looking at the possibility of securing a deal for Brown Jr to take his talent to the United States next year. Brown Jr is 1-0, having won his only match with a one-round knockout over Anton Ward on February 4, 2012.

The only other fight on the undercard saw Mike ‘Money’ Sawyer pound Alex ‘Cubanito’ Perez into submission one minute and 20 seconds into the first round. Perez couldn’t handle the assault that Sawyer put on him and he knelt on one knee in a corner and tried to absorb the pain as the match was called. The two light heavyweights, according to Stubbs, arranged for their own purse for the fight.