Zak Miller has had a brief glimpse of the big time and liked what he saw.
The 27 year-old English featherweight champion believes that he deserves to be boxing on the biggest stages and, on Saturday night, he gets the chance to prove it.
He and Commonwealth title holder, Masood Abdulah, 11-0 (7 KOs), will box for the vacant British 126lb belt at Manchester’s new Co-Op Live Arena.
The multi-title clash forms part of the undercard to the heavyweight fight between Derek Chisora and Otto Wallin and will be screened live by TNT Sports.
In November 2023, Miller, 15-1 (3 KOs), came up just short in a fight with then British and Commonwealth champion, Nathaniel Collins, at the famous Manchester Arena. Although he ended up losing the closest of majority decisions, Miller loved every moment of his first big fight experience and vowed to take his next chance.
That opportunity comes this weekend and the Ashton based fighter can’t wait for the fun to begin.
“I'm over the moon. I've done the Manchester Arena so now it's time to do the next one, which is the Co-Op Live,” he told The Ring.
“I just take it in my stride, I love all this. I like the press conferences, I like the build-up. If there’s an open workout, I like that. I'll go there and blast the pads and look good doing it.
“I’m going to get in there on fight night and look good doing it too. I'm not going to build it up to be something it's not. I’m going to go in there and enjoy it and show what I can do and get them belts.”
Although Miller was seen as a talented prospect progressing smoothly through the early stages of his career, the chance to fight Collins came out of the blue. After boxing exclusively on small hall shows and never having been beyond eight rounds, he was selected to fight the reigning British and Commonwealth champion.
Rather than being crushed by the occasion, Miller thrived in the spotlight. He may have left with a tight defeat on his record but he also left with his reputation enhanced dramatically.
Miller trains under Steve Maylett at The Finest Gym in Manchester and has barely missed a days work in the 15 months since the fight with Collins. Rather than dropping straight back down to the small halls, he decided to bide his time, learn in the gym and wait for a meaningful opportunity to arise.
Last June, he was matched with Lewis Frimpong for the vacant English title and beat the strong, compact former Southern Area champion by unanimous decision.
For all the technical and physical improvements Miller has made, the biggest difference this weekend may be that whilst he went into the fight with Collins thinking he was good enough win, he goes into the fight with Abdulah knowing he is.
“I think I've just developed myself as a fighter and as a person as well. I’ve matured into a man,” he said. “I've learned loads from that 12-round fight with Nathaniel Collins. I came back, won the English title against Frimpong - another undefeated fighter - and it's left me in really good stead for this fight now. I’m ready.
“It's always there in your mind that you've got to go out there and show and prove what you can do. I believe I did that night and it's time to go and show what I can do again, but it's going to be better.”
The ten rounds he spent in the ring with the aggressive Frimpong could prove extremely useful. Abdulah, 31, is a tough fighter who usually likes to get on the front foot, although has shown more of a willingness to box in recent appearances. Stamina won’t be an issue - Miller competed as a long distance runner for Great Britain before deciding to concentrate on boxing - and he has also had one eye on Abdulah for some time.
“Obviously, I've been aware of him.” he said. “I’m aware of everyone who's in my weight and we're at the top of our division on the domestic scene so it was always going to come along at one point or another but I'm not arsed who's in front of me. On that night I’m going to be the best version of Zak Miller and that's going to be enough.”
The winner of the fight between Miller and Abdulah will leave the ring holding all the major domestic featherweight titles.
WBA featherweight champion, Nick Ball, is undoubtedly Britain’s main man at 126lbs but now that former IBF champion, Josh Warrington, and former WBA title holder, Lee Wood, have left to round out their careers at super featherweight, there is a void behind him that needs filling.
Last month, Collins vacated the British title as he continues to recover from the emergency surgery he underwent to correct a life threatening twisted bowel last year. He returns to the ring in a couple of weeks and should then slot in just behind Ball but, the Scotsman apart, nobody will have a stronger claim to be pushed on further and faster than the winner of Saturday’s fight.
Winning the British title is a major achievement but Miller knows that he will be on the verge of even bigger things if he can get past Abdulah.
“Masood has got the Commonwealth and I think he'd agree that this fight is worth more than that. Now the British has been added, it's for all the marbles,” he said.
“You’ve got Nick Ball then you've probably got Collins - who’s going to fight for the EBU - and then after that it's us. I've already boxed Nathaniel so I know what I'm capable of.
“You don’t know what can come off the back of this.
“It could be that you stick around defending it but you could get offered something massive off the back of a fight like this so I'm going to be ready for whatever comes.”