London - Arabstoday
Tyson Fury has vacated the British and Commonwealth heavyweight crowns to pursue a world title. Unbeaten prospect David Price was next in line to face Fury after destroying John McDermott in a domestic eliminator. But Fury and his promoter Mick Hennessy have decided to look elsewhere after Team Price rejected an offer of £100,000 to fight on Channel 5. Fury, 23, said: "It's been an honour to have won and held both the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, but as I'm now currently No7 in the world it's time to move on. "If Price really believed he could beat me the smart move in my opinion would have been to take the great pay day that was offered by my promoter to appear on terrestrial TV. "I'm really excited about my future plans as I'm doing things differently and currently training like a Trojan in pursuit of becoming heavyweight champion of the world." Hennessy added: "We have a great schedule in place for Tyson on Channel 5 and I'm not prepared to have that affected by other promoters, purse bids and titles. "Fury v Price was a quality fight and in my opinion it should go out to the widest possible audience. "That's why I offered £100,000, which unfortunately was rejected by his promoter Frank Maloney on Monday. "Tyson's next steps and further information will be announced over the next few days." Maloney wasted little time in responding to Fury's decision by branding the Mancunian a chicken. He said: "I don't believe Hennessy or Channel 5 had the financial backing to put this fight on and this why they have pulled out. "As a promoter you take a risk when it comes to purse bids. You can bid too high and make a massive loss or too low and stand the chance that your fighter will fight on another promotion and TV channel. "We submitted our bid and crossed our fingers like all the other promoters did, but Hennessy and Chicken Fury could not take the gamble and have clucked away instead. "Fury will regret the day he gave up his belts and the chance to earn his biggest pay to date." The Sun .