Was Thompson Vs Till A Let-Down?

A week removed from the homecoming of the proud scouser Darren Till, A lot’s been made of the events preceding the fight and a load of opinions shared about the bout itself.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re fully up to speed with the chain of events that took place during the weigh-ins and the resulting negotiations where parameters were set to ensure the fight went ahead.  As Gennady Golovkin would say, that in itself was a ‘big drama show’.

So, Till missed weight.  We all know it’s a gruelling task that comes with extremely high mental and physical demands.  Fuck, I wish I could cut weight.  I’m sat in my back-garden typing this with my legs perched on a plastic chair identical to the one I’m sat on.  Using my lap as a table for my laptop, as I look towards the screen, I can see the rotundness of my belly in my periphery.  I digress.

We were told by the athletic commission guy at the eleventh hour of the two-hour weigh-in window, Darren Till had indeed been allowed a further hour to hit the scales due to extenuating circumstances.  I must admit, I was watching this unfold live on a YouTube stream and the cynic in me couldn’t help but feel…well…cynical.  The hometown hero, the big draw, the main event of the card and he hadn’t weighed in yet.  Then, all of a sudden, “extenuating circumstances” emerge.

Sometimes, a fighter missing weight is down to bad discipline or poor planning which doesn’t reflect well upon said athlete’s desire or will to win.  Not on this occasion.  It seems the circumstances in which Till was making the weight cut were indeed extenuating.  Although Till and Dana White tried to keep the precise reason private, Joe Rogan let it slip during his fight companion which is why I don’t feel the need to condemn the man.

The pre-fight hoopla successfully negotiated, it was now time for the main card to kick-off, safe in the knowledge our main event was still intact.  I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by the atmosphere in the Echo Arena.  Having watched many big nights of boxing take place at that venue, I suppose I was expecting a wall of noise throughout the event.  I think this is largely down to a lack of hometown fighters on the card.  To add to this, Molly McCann, the only other scouse fighter suffered a 2^nd round submission lost.  This was a prelim fight so it may have sucked some of the energy out the place.  Who knows.

As the pre-fight promo thing rolled for the main event, I remember feeling quite nervous.  Fuck knows why.  I wanted Till to win but deep down I wasn’t sure if he could.  As his music hit and we saw the first images of him making the walk, the crowd woke up.  It finally felt like I was watching a fight at the Echo Arena.

Till pulled a masterstroke by veering away from his usual entrance music and going with Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’.  Till isn’t stupid.  The song is played on every single one of Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom boxing events as a precursor to the main event.  Irrespective of the city or arena, he will have seen everyone in attendance on their feet, singing along with arms raised in the air.

This occasion was no different.  The crowd was electric.  You don’t see this kind of thing on an American show unless of course Conor McGregor is fighting and he’s bought half of Ireland with him.  I was quite glad there was a yank on the commentary team.  The fact he was so impressed with the noise made me feel proud, even though I had fuck all to do with it.

As I watched Till stood outside the cage, looking around, taking in the atmosphere, I wouldn’t say I was surprised, but I was definitely impressed by the sheer confidence and swagger of the man.  It’s like he didn’t know who or just how good Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is!

I’ve seen prominent figures in MMA express their disappointment in the fight.  Going into the fight, I feel like the general consensus was it was going to be an all-out blood and guts war.  I wasn’t one of the people that subscribed to this school of thought.

Till rose to prominence by walking down and dismantling an accomplished kick-boxer in Donald Cerrone.  With the taking of this big-name scalp, Till displayed just how skilled he is.  Thompson, on the other hand, is known for how masterful he is in being elusive and the speed in which he is able to make his opponent pay once they miss.  Because of this, I honestly didn’t think Till would be naïve enough to come in with the same gameplan that worked so successfully against Cerrone when facing Thompson.

In all honesty, I thought this fight would begin with Thompson getting the better of early exchanges setting the tone for the remainder of the fight.  I felt it would end with a wide decision victory for Thompson or a stoppage if he was able to frustrate Till into making a mistake that he could take advantage of.  Till on the other hand would leave the Octagon with his stocks raised but areas exposed where improvement was necessary to continue to operate at the top of a stacked 170lbs division.

What we got was this intricate dance between two high-level martial artists.  With each power strike that narrowly whistled past a temple or chin, we saw two men operating in a realm where the stakes were high and margins for error low.  As each round progressed, my interest grew and my arse shifted closer to the edge of my seat.

All said and done, we got a fight with two of the best strikers in the organisation that only delivered one moment where it was conceivable that the fight could be stopped, so I understand why people may feel it didn’t live up to expectations.  For me though, as strange as it is to say, I found my entertainment in the strikes that didn’t connect.  I appreciated how both men were able to play with fire by standing in striking distance and make his opponent miss.  The high-fiving and hugging however, did get a bit annoying.

As the fight drew to a close, I genuinely had no idea who had won.  All I knew was I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, and with that, I suppose I find my answer to the original question, was the Thompson Vs Till fight a let-down?  No, no it wasn’t.