Darren Till reacts after John Fury (not pictured) appears to throw a bottle of water towards him during a press conference at Leonardo London. Picture date: Tuesday November 19, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story BOXING London. Photo credit should read: John Walton/PA Wire.RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder. (Image: PA)
Former UFC welterweight contender Darren Till has shockingly declared he’ll resort to illegal tactics in his upcoming boxing match with Tommy Fury. Tommy, the younger sibling of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is set to return to the ring after his last victory over YouTuber KSI.
The bout was officially announced on social media by Fury and through a press release, confirming that Till, who triumphed over Mohammad Mutie in his boxing debut, will face ‘TNT’ at Manchester’s Co-Op Live next year. An excited Fury commented: “It feels great to finally say that I am back! I have been out of the ring far too long.”
He added, “I’ve been getting itchy knuckles so I am thrilled to be able to announce my return, headlining a massive event in my hometown and in front of my fans. Till had a good UFC career but he’s stepping into the boxing ring now, against a proper pro, and he will quickly realise that he is out of his depth and this is not the game for him. I plan on dealing with Till in conclusive fashion and then chasing even bigger fights in 2025.”
The highly anticipated fight is set for January 18, and tensions were already flaring at the initial press conference on Tuesday evening.
During the fiery press conference, Till issued a bold threat to Fury, stating: “At the end of the day, I can’t beat you, I’ll just kick you in the face in there,” and continued with a brazen declaration of his fighting prowess: “How about that? I’m a proper fighter, not a boxer. I don’t walk in a room like this and see boxing and go, ‘s***.’ I walk in, no one here is a threat to me. Not one person in this room, security, you, your dad are not a threat to me. I’m an MMA fighter, so if I want to kick you or elbow you in the face, I will, and no one can do anything about it.”
Fury was quick to respond, dismissing the threat: “Well that’s not going to happen is it Darren. Because we ain’t in the cage now, we’re in the boxing ring and you’re going to find out that boxing is very different to MMA.”
Yet, Till doubled down on his earlier statement: “Well it obviously is, how are you going to stop me? If I’m losing the fight, I’m going to kick you straight in the face. You won’t know what’s hit you.”
The tension escalated further when Tommy’s father, John Fury, caused a stir by squirting water at Till, leading to a scuffle that required security intervention. Despite the heated exchange and physical altercation, the fighters were eventually separated and calm was restored.
At 31, Darren Till captured the spotlight in MMA, quickly rising to prominence as a top contender in the sport. The fighter grabbed headlines in 2018 when he challenged for the welterweight title, only to be defeated by Tyron Woodley.
Following that encounter, Till moved up to the middleweight division. His last victory inside the octagon was against Kelvin Gastelum in 2019, before encountering a streak of three consecutive losses.
Last year marked the end of his eight-year tenure with the UFC, as he was let go from the organisation. Despite transitioning to boxing, Till envisages a return to his roots in MMA in the future.
He confirmed his intentions, stating emphatically: “Yes. 100 percent,” when queried on a potential UFC comeback. “I want to go back to MMA, obviously. A few years down the line, get back and make another f****** run at it. I want make a lot of money, but in the UFC it wouldn’t be about the money. I want to make some good f****** fights in there again. That’s what I want to do.”