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Former UFC star Darren Till will now face Anthony Taylor in the main event of a Misfits Boxing card on Jan. 18 at Manchester’s Co-op Live, the promotion announced Sunday afternoon.
Till was supposed to clash with Tommy Fury at the event, however Fury announced his withdrawal from the contest in early December citing fears that Till would break boxing rules and resort to “MMA tactics” based on comments Till made at their launch press conference.
“I don’t walk in a room like this and see boxers and go, ‘S***,'” Till told Fury at that press conference, “I walk in, no one in 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. How about that?”
Fury seemingly took Till’s threats to “kick and elbow him” seriously and withdrew from the fight.
“Darren has stated over and over that he does not want to abide by professional boxing rules and that if he is loosing [sic] the fight he will resort to kicking and other stupid MMA tactics,” Fury said in a statement in early December.
Till responded to Fury’s announcement with a series of social media posts, insisting that he was merely trying to sell their fight with his comments and that he obviously wouldn’t break boxing rules. Fury refused to proceed with the fight, though, so a replacement opponent had to be secured.
Taylor, riding a four-fight boxing win streak, steps in with less than three weeks to go.
Taylor previously lost to Fury by decision in their bout on the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley 1 undercard in 2021. He fell short again to Chris Avila, also on points, on the Paul vs. Woodley 2 card, but since has gone on to amass a 5-1 record under the Misfits Boxing umbrella.
After losing to Idris Virgo in January 2023, Taylor upset Salt Papi in May of the same year. At the time, Papi was the second biggest star under the Misfits banner behind KSI. A 35-year-old former MMA fighter, Taylor followed it up with a win over King Kenny on the KSI vs. Fury show in October.
In 2024, Taylor made two appearances on Misfits within three weeks, against Samuel Ericsson and Gabriel Silva, winning both fights by stoppage. He now lands the biggest opportunity of his career.
Till, 31, is better known for his 24-fight MMA career, which included 12 UFC appearances and an unsuccessful 2018 challenge for the UFC welterweight title against Woodley. The Liverpudlian’s boxing experience is limited to a first-round stoppage victory over MMA fighter Mohammad Mutie in a July exhibition match.
Till has been seen sparring fellow scouser and former boxing world champion Liam Smith in the lead-up to his professional debut.
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