Michael van Gerwen has revealed he threw Phil Taylor to the floor after the 14-time World Darts Championship winner mentioned boxing icon Ricky Hatton. The darts duo were huge rivals before The Power retired from professional darts in 2018.
Van Gerwen and Taylor went head-to-head on 24 occasions as they battled for darts supremacy, with the Dutchman coming out on top 15 times. But in their only meeting in the final of the World Darts Championship, which occurred in 2013, Taylor battled to a 7-4 victory to clinch the silverware.
The stars are considered to be two of the best darts players in history. And discussing an incident that happened “eight or nine years ago”, Van Gerwen told the Happy Hour Podcast: “Phil Taylor always went on about ‘my mate Ricky Hatton, my mate Ricky Hatton.’ After every match, he would come to his opponent and do a little bit of boxing moves.
“I didn’t know what he was doing so at the Grand Slam of Darts backstage in one of the old venues, I threw him to the floor. He was like ‘what happened here?’ Because it was like, ‘who just threw the big Phil Taylor to the floor?’ Yeah, sorry that was me. Phil loves to give it but he can also take it. I love when there’s a bit of spice involved on stage.”
Taylor, who is now 63 and currently competes on the World Seniors Darts Tour, featured 25 times at the World Darts Championship and incredibly reached 19 finals as he racked up title after title.
In November, he announced his decision to walk away from the sport altogether after next autumn’s World Seniors Darts Masters as he released a statement that read: “I’ll always love performing to the best of my ability, but time waits for no man, and I know now is the right time to step away from the Tour. It’s been an unbelievable journey over the past 35 years, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Van Gerwen, meanwhile, is second in the all-time title standings after reaching the World Darts Championship final six times and winning three of those showpiece clashes. The 34-year-old booked his place in the quarter-finals of this year’s tournament after thrashing Stephen Bunting 4-0 in the fourth round on Friday night.
And speaking about the darts hierarchy, Van Gerwen explained: “Phil Taylor, what he did for darts is incredible. He’s been the greatest in the sport of all time. Not the best, because that’s me, but he’s been the greatest.”
