Lorenzo Hunt Sparks Heated Confrontation With Darren Till at BKFC 94
Darren Till beat Yoel Romero on Saturday, then almost started a second fight in the same ring.
The Liverpool veteran took a unanimous decision in the BKFC 94 main event at a sold-out AO Arena in Manchester. All three judges scored it 49-46. Till moved to 2-0 in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Romero fell to 1-1.
The night did not end with the scorecards. Lorenzo Hunt, the BKFC World Ironweight champion, walked into the squared circle with his belts and went straight at the winner.
āYou fought like a b*tch tonight, in front of your friends, in front of your families,ā Hunt said on the DAZN microphone. āYou came here, and you let us down.ā
Till was still cut and marked up from five rounds with Romero. He did not back away.
Hunt kept going. āYou gotta press the pace,ā he said. āYou know I wonāt fight you like that. Iām gonna push you, Iām gonna press you, and Iām gonna take everything.ā
Till told him the same thing he had already said about a possible meeting. āIf you come in on me, you will get slapped, Lorenzo, and you know it.ā
The two had to be separated as the exchange spilled past the interview. Officials stepped in before it became more than words.
Till had already used the first part of his post-fight time to call out Tommy Fury and Mike Perry. āLetās get it on. Iām not going to chase you,ā he said toward Fury. On Perry, he added, āIāve called him out for years. Like I said, Iām not scared of anyone.ā
Hunt was the name that turned the interview into a scene. Till had listed Hunt as one of his three BKFC targets after knocking out Aaron Chalmers in May. Romero was the one the promotion actually made.
The Romero fight itself was not the highlight-reel night Hunt was mocking. Both former UFC title challengers were careful. Romero cut Till and dropped him late in the third, though the knockdown came as the bell sounded and was not scored.
Till was busier over five two-minute rounds. He never put Romero away. The judges still gave him every round on three identical 49-46 cards.
Hunt saw that as an opening. Till heard it as an insult in his own building.
āIāve given more every single fight Iāve ever fought,ā Till said. He also told Hunt that Romero was the better man in front of him and that Hunt would not last if the fight ever got made.
The Liverpool fighter then turned the microphone back toward the crowd. āI care about fighting,ā he said. āBecause I get paid the most in the bare knuckle. Iām the highest earner.ā
He invited the building to keep the night going. āParty on me tonight. Harvey Nichols, the pubās open. Everyoneās invited.ā
That is the version of Till BKFC signed. He left the UFC after a run that included a title shot at Robert Whittaker and a hometown win over Stephen Thompson. Since then he has stayed undefeated across boxing and bare knuckle.
Hunt is the other side of the roster argument. The Ohio veteran is BKFCās first three-division champion and holds the Ironweight belt after stopping Walter Pugliesi in July. He has spent recent fights calling for Perry. On Saturday he put Till on the list in person.
No fight was announced in the ring. BKFC now has a home-market winner at 2-0, a three-belt champion asking for him, and two other names Till already put on the record.
Romero, 49, came to Manchester as the dangerous veteran Till had wanted for years. He made Till bleed and still lost a clear decision. The Cubanās night ended before Huntās microphone started.
For Till, the win keeps the streak alive and puts the next booking in David Feldmanās hands. For Hunt, the confrontation did what a quiet ringside appearance would not. It made the matchup real in front of 15,000-plus in Manchester.
If BKFC wants the fight, both men already said the quiet part out loud. Till said Hunt would get slapped. Hunt said he would press the pace and take everything. The only thing missing is a date.