Tommy Fury vs. Darren Till had all the ingredients for a must-see showdown – fiery press conferences, John Fury’s wild antics, and plenty of trash talk. But now, it looks like fans won’t get to see this fight after all. The Fury vs. Till fight was set for January 18 in Manchester as part of a Misfits DAZN event, but that’s no longer happening.

Trouble began when John Fury, the head of the Fury family, sparked chaos by throwing water at the 31-year-old Darren Till during the press conference. The aftermath saw the former UFC fighter threatening to use his MMA skills, especially his kicks if the fight started going south in the ring. However, a former UFC referee feels this wouldn’t have been the case.

Darren Till was just trying to get a reaction with his comments feels Big John McCarthy

The younger Fury brother, at 10-0, used his social media handles to announce the fight’s cancelation. He admitted that he feared Till might not adhere to the pro-boxing rules if he started losing the fight. He wrote, “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 losing the fight he will resort to kicking and other stupid MMA tactics.” In the same statement, ‘TNT’ revealed that his team was already in talks to secure a new opponent and set a new date.

He also promised boxing fans a more exciting matchup with a tougher opponent. However, former UFC referee Big John McCarthy wasn’t happy with the announcement and shared his honest opinion on Tommy Fury’s pullout. Josh ‘The Punk’ Thomson and ‘Big’ John McCarthy were looking forward to the clash but felt Fury made a wrong move. The former UFC referee feels Hill said all that stuff just to get a reaction out of him and wouldn’t have kicked him.

While speaking to Thomson he said, “He said Darren till stated that he was gonna take him down. Darren Till hasn’t taken anyone down in MMA ever. He did say, ‘I might do a high kick during the fight’. Okay, and if he does, guess what’s gonna happen, Josh? He’s going to lose, the referee’s going to disqualify him.” The former referee further added how getting disqualified will lead to loss of money and added, “Not only did you lose, now you are losing all kinds of money, and you put yourself in a place where people aren’t going to fight you again. Darren Till is just making chatter to bring up interest in the fight, and to put Tommy in a position where he’s gotta say something back”. 

While fans may have taken Till’s comments as playful banter, Fury didn’t see it that way. His focus wasn’t just on the fight—it was about preserving the integrity of boxing, or so it seems. Or maybe, he just doesn’t want to fight Darren Till? The situation didn’t stop there, though, as a fired-up Fury continued to take aim with more heated remarks.

Tommy Fury feels Darren Till let go of an opportunity of a lifetime by making those comments

In a recent interview with IFL TV, which was later shared on X by ACD MMA, Tommy Fury was asked about the reasons behind the cancellation of his fight with Darren Till. While Fury had previously posted on social media about the fight being off, he didn’t hold back in the interview, sharing his thoughts openly. He said,  “At the end of the day, I’m a professional fighter. And, the reason why I picked Darren wasn’t to then scrap the card. It’s because Darren has not got a business brain. Darren’s what he is at the end of the day.” 

The issues appeared to start with the comments made by the Scouser during the event’s pre-press conference. Darren Till, on his end, argued that his comments were misunderstood. He explained that they were meant to be playful and not taken seriously, insisting they were “tongue in cheek” comments. But Fury wasn’t buying it and felt Till might just have let go of the biggest chance of his career. He said, “He’s an idiot, and he blew it for his whole family and his whole team, whatever. I wanted a proper fight, and the man’s talking about rolling around on the ground. If I wanted to do that, I’d have gone to MMA.” 

Do you think Tommy Fury did the correct thing by calling off the fight? Or was Darren Till just playing around? Or is it that Tommy Fury doesn’t want to face the former UFC welterweight for fear of losing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.