A former boxing world champion has offered to fight Darren Till on short notice after Tommy Fury pulled out of their crossover match set for January.
Former Love Island star Fury announced on Friday that his Manchester fight against former UFC fighter Till would not longer be going ahead, alleging the ex-UFC welterweight title challenger refuses to ‘abide by professional boxing rules’.
During the first press conference for the fight, which was supposed to be held in Manchester, last week, Till threatened to kick the younger Fury brother in the head inside the ring. That appeared to prompt Fury, whose last fight was a unanimous decision win against Youtuber-turned-boxer KSI last October, to drop out of the contest.
Till suggested that wouldn’t be the case, claiming he was ‘selling the fight to make me and you more money’ as he launched a tirade of insults in the direction of Fury and his family.
While Fury has promised to find a new opponent for the near future, Till’s future has been left up in the air – but he could be saved by a boxing icon.
Billy Joe Saunders, a former WBO middleweight champion, has taken to social media to call out the MMA star, suggesting he would be willing to step in at short notice.
Billy Joe Saunders has called our Darren Till after his fight with Tommy Fury was cancelled
Saunders, who has not fought since 2021, urged Till to ‘make an offer’ for him to ‘step in’
Till’s (pictured) future is up in the air after Fury claimed he refused to abide to boxing rules
‘Make an offer I’ll step in,’ Saunders posted on Instagram, sharing Till’s reaction to Fury pulling out of the fight.
‘Old fat gipsy boy will take this over from here,’ he added.
Saunders last fought in May 2021, when he lost for the only time in his career against Canelo Alvarez in Texas, where he lost his WBO super-middleweight title.
His 31-fight CV, in total, boasts 30 wins, with 14 coming by knockout, and just the one defeat.
Speaking at the press conference on November 19 on how he planned to beat Fury, Till said: ‘Well at the end of the day if I can’t beat you, I’ll just kick you in the face in there, how about that?’
Fury’s body language suggested that he was shook by the threat, and he replied: ‘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.’
Fury took to social media to reveal the news on Thursday, writing: ‘I can’t believe I’m writing this but I am now not fighting Darren Till on January 18 2025.
‘For the one simple reason being that Darren has stated over and over that he does not want to abide by professional boxing rules and that if he is loosing the fight he will resort to kicking and other stupid MMA tactics,’ the 25-year-old wrote on Instagram.
Fury took to Instagram on Friday to reveal that he would no longer be facing Till in Manchester
Till had threatened to kick Fury in the head inside the ring if he was losing the bout
‘I am a professional boxer, I have been out of the ring for over a year and I wanted this to be a great BOXING fight for the fans. I have wasted weeks in training camp. We are working hard to get a new opponent and date.
‘I promise to get a better opponent and better fight for you guys. Good news around the corner.’
The outspoken Till was quick to respond to Fury – the younger brother of former heavyweight world champion Tyson – labelling him and father John s**thouses and insisting that he didn’t need to ‘throw kicks’ to win the contest during a heated press conference.
‘I was selling the fight to make me and you more money you absolute empty head fighting family my a** you and ur dad s**thouses,’ Till wrote on X. ‘I don’t need to throw kicks you was getting knocked spark out you divvy we was making bank on this fight cos of me not you.
‘I was building it you should be fighting and should be thanking me. Over and out… no one wants to fight me… Jake Paul what are you up to you big fat dummy?’
