Darts legend Bobby George believes Phil Taylor would be no match for Luke Littler, even in his heyday.
This comes after manufacturer and sponsor Target Darts recently appeared to announce a match-up between current PDC World Champion Littler, and retired 16-time world champion Taylor.
In a social media post last month, the company teased that ‘The Power vs The Nuke’ would be ‘coming soon’.
Alongside this, Target Darts released a trailer which revealed the ‘two champions’ would be going ‘head to head for the first time ever’.
While it remains unclear as to whether this encounter will definitely be a darts match and not a promotional campaign of some sort, the announcement has triggered plenty of anticipation among fans.
A contest between the pair has long been mooted, with many tipping Littler to surpass Taylor’s historic achievements in the sport since bursting onto the scene at the 2023 World Championship.
Taylor is the undisputed greatest darts player of all time, having triumphed at the PDC World Championship a record 14 times.
Despite the 64-year-old’s incredible legacy however, two-time BDO World Championship runner-up Bobby George has warned him against taking on the teenager.
Appearing on the talkBULL podcast, George shared his fears that The Power would be humiliated by his younger counterpart, having retired from all forms of darts after being forced to withdraw from the 2024 World Seniors Masters.
When asked if he was keen to see Taylor in the potential showdown, he replied: “Look, he [Taylor] was a great player, you have your day.
“[But] you get to a certain age in your life in your sport, everyone has it, and your body doesn’t allow you to play as you used to.
“If he played Littler now he’d get slaughtered, it’d be most embarrassing.”
Explaining why Taylor should avoid the would-be face-off, George pointed to his form on the Seniors Tour prior to bowing out from the sport.
The 79-year-old continued: “The thing is, he’s retired. He’s played in the Seniors and he can’t even win in the Seniors.
“So playing a guy that’s one of the greatest players in the world at this time, he’s got no chance
“If he does it for the money, then alright, take the bees and honey.
“But he takes all the credit for what he’s done, and a young guy of 18 beats him up. He ain’t got a chance, he’s too good the young boy, he’s too good.”
And while George didn’t fancy Taylor’s chances against Littler in his current form, he admitted he would also fancy the 18-year-old in a clash with the darts icon in his prime.
GettyBobby George stepped away from darts in 2009[/caption]
He went on: “Taylor was a great player, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he would have beaten Littler, even in his hey day, because his scoring power is so good, his finishing is unbelievable.
“The only way he could probably have a chance of beating him is to take the double 10 off the bull, because that’s what you can hit every time.
“He’s got double 10 or double top, bang, straight in.
“Taylor was a great player but not as good as Littler. That’s my opinion, mind you.”
Since picking up his first PDC World Championship title in January, Littler has continued his upwards trajectory with victory at the UK Open, before defending his Belgian Darts Open title last weekend.
