Byline: TIM WILKIN - Staff Writer
NEW YORK - Little Devan Miller scooted into his father's locker room in the bowels of Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. He caught his dad's eye and began to cry.
Shannon Miller, his boxing father, had made his son a promise before he stepped into the fabled Garden ring, and now he was keeping it. Hence, the tears.
Miller told his son that if he did not beat Derric Rossy in their New York State Heavyweight Championship fight, he would walk away. And that's just what he did.
After losing a 10-round unanimous decision to Rossy, Miller announced he will retire from the game.
'My son said if I won this fight, I would continue,' Shannon Miller said. 'If I lost, that was it. That's it. I'm retired.'
Miller stood in his locker room, beads of sweat still pouring off his shoulders. He had a nasty cut above his left eye and it was already discoloring. The final wounds from a career that started when he was only 8 years old.
Miller, 32, ends his career with 14-3 record including eight knockouts. He weighed in at 227 pounds for this fight, 18 less than Rossy, who is also seven years younger. At 6-foot-3, Rossy, who was a defensive lineman at Boston College, was also 3 inches taller than Miller.
There were no knockdowns in the fight that served as part of the undercard of Saturday's World Heavyweight Championship bout between Wladimir Klitschko and Calvin Brock.
Miller also had a cut in his left ear, but Rossy, from Medford on Long Island, did not go home unscathed. Rossy, now 14-0, also had a cut over his left eye, which forced referee Charlie Fitch to stop the fight briefly in the sixth round to have it checked. Fitch also stopped the bout to have Miller's ear looked at.
When the bout was over, judge Tom Schreck scored the fight 98-91, judge Ron McNair had it 100-90 and judge Glen Feldman had it 100-90.
'He was a big, strong guy and I knew I had a tough fight ahead of me,' Miller said. 'He had a fast jab and he hit me with some good shots. His jabs didn't hurt me but they might tomorrow. I'm an old guy.'
Miller's entourage included his dad, Bob (who has managed his son since the start), his brother Shawn, his trainer Billy Growick and Lisa Elovich, his promoter.
Bob Miller stood outside his son's locker room after it was all over and wore a sad little smile. He would offer no excuses for Shannon, saying he fought the younger, bigger fighter as best he could.
And there was absolutely no disgrace in finishing his career under the bright lights at MSG.
'This is the first time he ever went 10 rounds and he fought a true, professional fight,' Bob Miller said. 'And he fought here. There are loads of worse places. Shannon was always a good, solid guy and he always showed up.'
Shannon Miller said his decision is final, but, in the boxing game, who knows?
Bob Miller said he would not say for sure if it's all over for his son but he supports whatever he wants to do. Besides Devan, Miller has a wife, Heather, and a 2-year-old daughter, Olivia.
'I need a break, maybe I'll open a boxing club myself,' Shannon Miller said. 'Right now, it's not hard to say I'm retired. But in three of four weeks, you hit the bag ... but I think this is it.'
Tim Wilkin can be reached at 454-5415 or by e-mail at twilkin@timesunion.com.
CAPTION(S):
PHOTO
Jon Winslow/Special to the Times Union SHANNON MILLER, left, and Derric Rossy exchange blows during their fight- a 10-round battle with Rossy eventually declared the winner.
SHANNON MILLER promised his son that if he lost in his bid for the title, he would retire from the sport of boxing.
