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Manchester has been named one of the top cities in the UK for people getting engaged

Engagement related searches have risen by 17.85% across the country over the past year.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 5th May 2021

New research has revealed that more people in the UK have been looking to get engaged over the past year than the twelve months prior.

Despite the fact that large and extravagant wedding celebrations have seemed like a thing of the past due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions of the past year, Google search data has shown that engagement-related searches have risen by 17.85% across the country to 3,897,680 between April 2020 and March 2021, which is an increase of just over 590,000.

From low-key private proposals, to giant gestures at massive public events and more, every engagement is a special moment, and every proposal has to happen somewhere – but where in the UK are the most people getting engaged?

Manchester is one of those places, apparently.

Online jewellery retailer, Jewellery Box, has determined “the UK’s engagement capitals” by comparing the number of engagement-related searches to the population in each city to discover the cities with the highest percentage of people interested in taking that next step and where you’re most likely to get engaged in 2021.

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According to the findings, around 7.35% of the Manchester population is looking to get engaged in 2021, which places the city at number 12 on the list of engagement capitals.

Visit Manchester | Unsplash / Alekon Pictures

Coming in at number one is the historic north eastern city of Durham, with 12.28% of a population of just under 100,000 searching for engagement related terms in the past twelve months, and other fellow northern cities Liverpool, Newcastle and Kingston Upon Hull have also landed a spot on the list.

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When it comes to the cities that have had the biggest rise in lockdown love, Manchester is sadly nowhere to be seen this time around.

Despite being one of the smaller cities in the country, St Albans has had by far the biggest increase in engagement related searches during the past year, from 1,620 searches to 3,880 during the past year.

There was a 29.95% increase in Preston, 25.05% in Wakefield, and 22.33% in Bradford.

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You can have a look at the full findings from the research into the UK’s most popular engagement cities on the Jewellery Box website.

Featured Image – Unsplash / Andre Jackson

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Carl Froch slams ‘pathetic’ John Fury after bust-up at Darren Till press conference

Danny Jones Danny Jones Carl Froch calls John Fury pathetic and embarassing after fight at Till press conference

Former fighter Carl Froch has branded boxing patriarch John Fury “pathetic” following the chaotic scenes at the recent Darren Till press conference.

‘Big’ John was at the centre of some pre-bout bedlam earlier this week after tempers flared during the presser between his son Tommy Fury and his next opponent, Darren Till.

For anyone who didn’t see it, a reaction from the Fury father following a lengthy foul-mouthed exchange sparked a massive on-stage brawl, requiring both parties to be separated and the face-off cut short.

Offering his thoughts on the incident, the ex-middleweight and multi-time champion called out the 59-year-old for what he now says is just the “usual pathetic childish behaviour from a grown man.”

Carl Froch back in 2010, four years before his retirement.
‘Big’ John seeing red at the Fury vs Till press conference.
Credit: Pasi (via Wikimedia Commons)/Fight Hub TV (via YouTube screenshot)

Speaking to sports media and betting company, Action Network, Froch said: “Darren Till did have a lot to say and he was very vocal but at the end of the day it’s not about him, it’s about Darren Till and Tommy Fury so why is Big John Fury, the fighting man, getting involved?…

“Has he been sacked by Tyson Fury? Did Tyson tell him to f*****g do one and now he’s with Tommy Fury trying to get some of the limelight? I don’t know but same old s***. Darren Till totally wrote him off.

Froch went on to say of Fury junior – who has flirted with the idea of an exhibition match with the retired British, Super Middleweight, Commonwealth and WBC champ in the past – “For me, I don’t give it any credibility but when he mentions my name and puts my name in the mix, I’m obligated to respond.

“It’s like Jake Paul. He doesn’t like the way I give Jake Paul stick because I’m honest. He’s not a fighter or a pro boxer, he’s a YouTuber, TikTok dancer and content creator […] All of these guys like Jake Paul and ‘Big’ John Fury – when they start talking bull***t, I just tell it how it is, give my honest opinion and sit back to watch the parade go by because they all get upset.”

The 47-year-old also speculated that there is a serious possibility that older brother Tyson has dismissed his dad from his current entourage, at least during media events, noting that he isn’t helping promote fights by “headbutting children at press conferences” as we saw before the Fury vs Usyk fight.

John Fury explains why he headbutted a member of Oleksandr Usyk’s team ahead of son’s fight

“That kid he headbutted didn’t even look like he could have a shave”, added Froch. “He might’ve been a young man, but he picked on the smallest person there and dropped the headbutt on him. It’s not the kind of behaviour you want to see, it’s bad for boxing.

Offering his final thoughts on the ever-controversial John Fury, Froch signed off by saying: “At the end of the day, he is a guy who wants some attention. He’s a man who has never achieved anything. His son Tyson Fury is obviously very good, he’s a top fighter and we know what he’s all about.”

As for 25-year-old Tommy, he takes on fellow North West fighter Darren Till at the Co-op Live arena early next year. You can find out more HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Fight Hub TV/Froch on Fighting (via YouTube screenshot)

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Tommy Fury vs Darren Till press conference descends into foul-mouthed chaos

Danny Jones Danny Jones Tommy vs Darren Till press conference scrap chaos

The first press conference ahead of Tommy Fury vs Darren Till was held on Tuesday evening and it didn’t take long for the whole thing to descend into absolute bedlam.

Having only been confirmed on Sunday, Fury vs Till will be a homecoming bout for the Wythenshawe-born fighter who is set to headline the first-ever boxing match at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena.

With the date set for 18 January, the pre-fight build-up and media frenzy are growing fast and things have already come to ahead in just the first meeting between the two fighters in London this week.

Clearly sharing plenty of bad blood already, while Tommy and Till were engaging in the usual fighting talk, the family patriarch, John Fury, decided to interject and it was at this point that things boiled over.

As you can see, amidst the various insults being thrown around regarding intelligence, boxing ability, Tommy’s older brother Tyson being “battered by [Oleksandr] Usyk”, ‘Big John’ then launches a bottle of water across the table at Till, sparking a hot-tempered on-stage skirmish.

The lengthy exchange features as many expletives as you could imagine, with 31-year-old Darren Till also threatening that he will “bladder” both Tommy and his more established heavyweight sibling Tyson, labelling the entire Fury family “shithouses” as they walk out of the London press conference.

A mixed martial artist by trade who has competed at both welterweight and middleweight in the UFC, Till assured that even if the boxing match isn’t going his way on the night, he will kick [him] square in [the] face”, adding that he’s a “proper fighter” and that Tommy, on the other hand, has no power.

YouTube turned musician and occasional boxer, KSI – the founder of the Misfits promotion who is putting on the event and who Fury beat back in October last year – can also be heard whooping from centre stage and shouting, “Get your tickets!”

Even after the mini-brawl is separated, the foul-mouthed back and forth continues for some time. You can see another angle here:

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This isn’t the first time things have boiled over at a Fury press conference; in fact, it’s not even the first time John Fury, 59, has found himself in the very eye of the storm.

It was only back in May of this year, before his elder son’s title fight against Usyk, that he drew blood after headbutting a member of the Ukrainian’s entourage in another volatile presser.

Meanwhile, the youngest Fury son is preparing first his first fight in over a year, having nearly joined this year’s I’m a Celeb lineup instead.

Tickets for the now highly-anticipated boxing match at Co-op Live, just the second combat sports event to have been held at the arena, are on sale now – you can grab yours HERE. It’s going to be a feisty one.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — DAZN (via Screenshot)

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