Jarrell Miller is slowly creeping back to what he considers to be a normal fighting weight.

The unbeaten heavyweight is set for his first fight in the U.S. in nearly four years, as he will face Tijuana’s Derek Cardenas in a scheduled ten-round bout.

Brooklyn’s Miller weighed 328 pounds, a significant drop from the career-heaviest 341 ¾ that he registered exactly one month ago. Cardenas (8-9, 7KOs) was 269 pounds—a career high for the Mexican journeyman—for their chief support on Saturday’s show at the main ballroom at Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The event marks Miller’s first stateside appearance since November 2018, the lengthy delay attributed to a combination of positive drug tests and the pandemic. Miller (24-0-1, 20KOs) blew a shot at then-unbeaten and unified heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua after popping for multiple banned substances as discovered through random pre-fight drug testing ahead of their planned June 2019 title fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He also tested positive ahead of a canceled July 2020 clash with Jerry Forrest, which was to headline an ESPN telecast from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Miller avoided suspension from the Joshua fallout due to his not being licensed at the time. The Nevada commission took the measure of treating him as a licensed fighter ahead of the fight with Forrest, resulting in his receiving a temporary suspension that was converted months later to a backdated two-year ban. He returned June 23, scoring a ten-round unanimous decision over Ariel Bracamonte on the road in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Saturday’s fight—which marks his second heaviest weight as a pro—comes exactly one month later and with the blessing of the Tennessee Athletic Commission, the first U.S. governing body to issue a license to Miller since the suspension. It’s a next step in the career of Miller, who plans to fight once a month through the rest of the year though who refused to speak following Friday's weigh-in.

Cardenas fights for the third straight time in the U.S. The 24-year-old is winless in the U.S. and enters having lost his last three bouts.

While Miller’s bout will generate the most headlines outside of the mid-South for Saturday’s show, it serves in supporting capacity to a heavyweight rematch.

Locally based Keith Rydell Mayes Jr. (12-1, 11KOs) aims to avenge his lone career defeat, as he faces Knoxville’s Jaden Booth (3-4, 3KOs). Mayes weighed 236 pounds, up from his weight of 229 ¾ pounds in a stunning third-round knockout loss to Booth last February at nearby NOTES Lounge, which has since permanently closed its doors.

Booth weighed a beefy—and career-high—261 pounds, more than 10 pounds above his weight of 250 ¾ pounds in his win over Mayes, having since suffered back-to-back first-round knockout defeats. However, he remains convinced that lightning will strike twice.

"I trained a lot, so I know I am in shape,” insisted Booth. “I like to fight, so I took the rematch. I feel pretty confident in the training that I’ve done and all my training partners. We should be good.”

Mayes turned pro in 2018 at age 29—more than ten years after his glory years as a stud wide receiver for Murfreesboro’s Riverdale High School. He has won his last four starts after the shocking defeat to Booth and is intent on keeping the streak alive through this weekend.

“This fight is definitely important to me even though I am mainly focused on campaigning as a cruiserweight now,” said Mayes, who fought at cruiserweight in each of his past two starts. “This was just something I couldn’t let go; I couldn’t get over. It’s a fight I felt I should have won the first time. I had to ask for it back, so I could right that wrong.

"I’ve been working hard, making sure I am prepared. I am ready for this fight. Ready to make it happen and move forward with my career.”

Below are the weights for the rest of the undercard, which will air live on promoter Tri-Star Boxing’s Volume page beginning at 6:00 p.m. local (Central) time.

Alan Belcher (4-0, 4KOs), D'Iberville, Mississippi, 225 pounds vs. Rayford Johnson (12-28, 6KOs), Austin, 247 pounds—4 rounds, heavyweight

Eridanni Leon (6-4, 2KOs), Inglewood, California, 148 pounds vs. Anthony Woods (1-36-1, 1KO), Forrest City, Arkansas, 148 pounds—4 rounds, welterweight

Eric Draper (19-10-1, 12KOs), Smyrna, Tennessee vs. Dedrick Bell (31-32-1, 17KOs), Memphis—3 round EXHIBITION

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox