Judges David Sutherland and Steve Weisfeld scored the fight 117-111, while Tim Cheatham had it 115-113. Miller entered the bout ranked No. 9 by the WBA, while Pero was No. 2. The win was Miller’s second in a row and the first time he has notched multiple wins in a calendar year since 2022. It was a tale of two kinds of fights. Pero, of Camaguey, Cuba, got off to a good start by outboxing Miller from range and connecting with a big straight left hand and right hook out of the southpaw stance on a pair of occasions. Pero also had success with his jab to the body early on and used angles to keep Miller from walking him down. Miller, of Brooklyn, New York, turned it from a boxing match into a phonebooth brawl in the third round, as he pushed Pero to the ropes and let his hands go. Miller’s volume and ability to close the gap turned the fight in his favor. Miller, 37, who had over a 50-pound weight advantage heading into the fight, continued to push the pace and hit Pero to the body. Pero, 33, fought back and occasionally connected with clean shots, but they had little effect on Miller. The angles he used to turn Miller became nonexistent as he continued to find himself with his back to the ropes. Miller did the better work and continued to pull away as the rounds progressed. The fight fell into a pattern as Miller controlled the fight on the inside and did the more significant work, while an exhausted Pero struggled to hold Miller off. Pero was barely able to come out of his corner in the 11th round as Miller’s pace wore him down. Pero then started to show signs of life later in the round, backing Miller up after connecting with clean shots to the body. Pero tried to mount a rally around the midway point of the 12th round, but Miller eventually pushed him back to the ropes and closed out the fight strong, trading power shots in the final 10 seconds until the final bell. After the win, Miller called for a return on the undercard of Xander Zayas vs. Jaron Ennis for Zayas' WBA and WBO 154-pound titles on June 27 in Brooklyn on DAZN PPV. He and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, also called for a fight against former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.