Mike Perry has some behind-closed-door experience with both Jake Paul and Darren Till.
The welterweight “Platinum” first sparred with his now-middleweight rival in Till a few years back. More recently, Perry spent time helping out Paul in preparation for his last match with Ben Askren. When asked who sparred him better, Perry had an interesting response.
“Jake Paul was a better spar than Till,” Perry told The Mac Life. “That was an awkward situation with the gloves and sh*t. Yeah, definitely though.
“Making you think he’s gonna engage then doesn’t. He’s got long reach, he’s got different tricks, he taught me something. First-round he started doing something and I was like ‘okay’ … it wasn’t doing damage, but it was like keeping him at bay.”
Mike Perry is currently on the last fight of his UFC contract and has long expressed interest in a bout with Till. The Flint, Michigan native dropped to 14-8 after a unanimous decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 23 in April. Perry is 3-7 in his last 10 fights.
Till was originally scheduled to compete on that very same card as Perry. Unfortunately for him, a broken collarbone prevented him from headlining opposite Marvin Vettori. The 18-3-1 Till is 1-3 in his last four since going undefeated and earning a welterweight title shot. Till is next set to face Derek Brunson.
Perry is currently down in Miami, Florida for this weekend’s Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul exhibition boxing match. As for Logan’s younger brother in Jake, he and former opponent of Till’s, the then-champion Tyron Woodley, will have a match in August. Woodley last fought in March when suffering his fourth straight loss at the hands of Vicente Luque. His last win came against Till in their September 2018 encounter.