Former UFC fighter Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till doubles down on his callout of Jake Paul, although he doubts that the American will accept his offer.
One Mike down, another Mike to go – Jake Paul’s brutal stoppage win over ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry this weekend in Florida has once again set the stage for his controversial superfight with boxing legend Mike Tyson later this year.
Yet if the 58-year-old Mike Tyson is unable to make it to the ring in November, there’s another MMA superstar who’s waiting patiently in the wings for his chance to silence ‘The Problem Child’ once and for all.
UFC veteran Darren Till offers to replace Mike Tyson for boxing clash
Following Jake Paul’s sixth-round demolition of Mike Perry and his subsequent callouts of both Mike Tyson and UFC champion Alex Pereira, it wasn’t long before Darren Till threw his name in the hat as a potential backup opponent, should Tyson be unable to make the walk for November.
“Pereira is under contract & Mike Tyson is in no fit state.,” he wrote online, adding “I am the same size & weight, Are we fighting or not? I got ducked the last pull out with Tyson & they got that midget Perry to step in instead of me.
“I’m here & I am going to say nothing else. I’ll wait for the call.”
Despite claiming he was going to say nothing else, a few hours later and Till gave an interview to Submission Radio talking about the Paul vs Perry boxing fight and the possibility of facing ‘The Problem Child’ in the ring.
“I didn’t even watch the fight… But from the clips I’ve seen it was atrocious, it was just low-level striking, Jake Paul was gassed after the first round – to be honest, I don’t even know what Mike was doing in there… I’m actually quite speechless, Jake was terrible and so was Mike.”
Earlier this month, Till actually won his boxing debut on the main card of Social Knockout 3 in the UAE – albeit with some minor controversy as a brawl erupted in the ring after his opponent refused to continue.
When asked whether there had been any contact from Paul’s team regarding the November event on Netflix, Till acknowledged that whilst he’d make the perfect backup opponent, his calls aren’t being answered.
“Nothing at all because Jake Paul will not fight me, I’m 6’1”, I’m 225lbs and I can box like f*** – Jake Paul will not fight me. [I’ve heard] nothing at all.
“My offer is you are so lucky that you will not fight me because I would punch holes in Jake Paul… Listen I respect the businessman, I respect the fact that he’s actually dedicated his whole life to boxing – I respect a lot of things, but I would seriously injure Jake Paul in a [boxing] ring.”
So, why does the former UFC fighter think he could get his hand raised against ‘The Problem Child’ in the boxing ring? Simply put, “I’d just be too technically tactical for him.”
‘The Gorilla’ teases how that fight versus Jake Paul would go
Here, Till cited the experience gained from a lifetime in MMA and even the likes of Israel Adesanya, Anderson Silva, and Robert Whittaker as examples of where striking credentials differentiate between the cage and the ring.
“It’s not necessarily the shots we throw, it’s the setups and the technical aspect behind it and I’d lead him into stuff, he wouldn’t even know what was happening.
“I’d piece him up, it’d take me about three rounds to figure him out and then I’d piece him up to bits… I’ve already got it all planned out but unfortunately for us, Jake Paul ain’t going to fight Darren Till.”
Obviously dejected that his desire to fight Paul continues to fall on deaf ears, there’s still a plethora of other big names out there who could make for an interesting fight – including several of Paul’s former opponents.
“I’d love to fight Nate Diaz, I’d love to fight Jorge Masvidal, I’d love to fight Tommy Fury, I’d love to fight KSI, I’d love to fight Mike Perry – I’d love to fight all of these guys but for some reason, my name doesn’t get [mentioned]… Maybe I’ll just fight myself.”
“I’m going to be honest; I want to go back to MMA but at the moment in time, I’m trying to just get through each day – I’m just going to take each day as it goes and get better.”
As of July 22, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson is scheduled for November 15, exclusively on Netflix – hopefully, Till can either get that backup spot or at least be added to the undercard; as was the original plan for Tampa this past weekend.