- Fury has not stepped foot in the ring since his win over KSI in October last year
- Now, it’s been confirmed that he will return to boxing against ex-UFC fighter Till
- Here, Mail Sport takes a look the Liverpudlian’s career ahead of their fight
Darren Till has never been one to shy away from the fight and that trend has continued after it was announced he will take on Tommy Fury in the boxing ring.
Former Love Island contestant Fury has not stepped foot inside the ring since his controversial win over YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI in October last year.
He’d been tipped to make an appearance on this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! but reports claimed he pulled out for a more lucrative offer – which turned out to be a boxing fight against Till.
The two British stars will go head-to-head at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester in January, as Fury looks to follow up from his win over KSI.
Names such as KSI and Jake Paul – another of Fury’s rivals – are well-known across the UK given their dominance on the internet.
However, unless you are a mixed martial arts aficionado, not many will be familiar with Till – who has only had one boxing fight to date.
He made his name for himself in the UFC after a stunning rise through the welterweight division before suffering defeat by Tyron Woodley and failing to bounce back.
However, Till’s life could have taken a very different path, one far removed from the spotlight of MMA.
At 19-years-old, he was stabbed twice in the back outside of a nightclub in Liverpool.
Till was lucky when, after helping out his friends during an altercation outside of the venue, the blade missed a crucial artery by millimetres.
Speaking on the experience, Till told ESPN back in 2018: ‘I was kicked out of school and my mum was on my case to get a job. I didn’t care if I didn’t make a career and a huge amount of money, I just wanted to do what I really liked.
‘I was training a lot but mixing with the wrong crowd. I was in a nightclub and I got stabbed, I spent time in the hospital, chatted with my coach [who told me] ‘if you want to continue fighting you’ve got to get focused’.
‘If the knife had hit the nerve – it was 1mm away – I’d have bled to death. It hasn’t made me the guy I am today, it just showed me that life can be taken away from you really quickly. Back then, it could have been my night to die there.
‘Coach Colin said “go there and when the time is ready I’ll tell you to come back”. I just believe everything he says, so I went the week later. “Go to Brazil [he said] and let’s see what can happen”. He trusted me to come back a UFC fighter.’
And so, that’s exactly what Till did. He had 11 fights in Brazil and one in Argentina prior to joining the UFC, with just two going to a decision.
Till’s time in Brazil allowed him to evolve into a well-rounded fighter, and it wasn’t long before he was making waves in the UFC’s welterweight division.
His impressive performances, including a knockout victory over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, quickly caught the attention of MMA fans and analysts alike.
After a stellar run in the early stages of his career, Till earned a shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship against Tyron Woodley in September 2018.
Despite entering the fight with an undefeated record and much hype surrounding him, Till was submitted by Woodley in the second round, marking the first loss of his career.
It was a crushing blow for the Liverpool native who then lost four of his five fights that followed, including a contentious decision loss to Robert Whittaker in 2020.
His last bout inside the octagon came in 2022 when he lost to current middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis. It was after this loss that he turned to boxing.
Till was scheduled to make his professional boxing debut against Mexican former WBC middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson undercard earlier this year – however the event was postponed.
After that bout was cancelled, Till thought that he may be in line for a fight with Jake Paul – however he later revealed that negotiations fell silent shortly after.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: ‘The Jake Paul fight, he called me out when the Chavez Jr fight got made. Logan Paul did last year as well. They both called me out I didn’t call them out.
‘So I thought okay let’s put your money where your mouth is, I am fresh, I am 31 and I am your size.
‘Let’s do it and tumbleweed suddenly I didn’t hear anything back.’
After those negotiations fell flat, Till eventually turned his attention to Palestinian mixed martial artist Mohammad Mutie.
Till was awarded victory by technical knockout in the second round despite a punch landing on the back of Mutie’s head during the exhibition boxing bout in Dubai.
Away from both the cage and boxing ring, Till has had a number of controversies throughout the years such as back in 2019 when he reportedly trashed a hotel room and stole a taxi while the driver was loading his luggage into the trunk.
Till and four other involved individuals were sentenced for a crime of damage and unauthorised use of a vehicle, and were fined approximately £10,000.
