Fury wants Irish title

www.irish-boxing.com Mark Doyle1st January, 2009

Tyson Fury has reiterated his desire to fight for the vacant Irish heavyweight title.

The undefeated Mancunian has already been promised a shot at English champion John McDermott before the end of November but Fury would also love to secure a crack at the Irish title, which was last held by Kevin McBride.

"It would be great to be the English and Irish heavyweight champ at the same time,"Fury enthused.

"That would be pretty unique and I'm very proud of my Irish roots. My Dad was born in Tuam in Galway and my grandmother on my Mum's side was a Tipperary woman, so it would be great to fight for the Irish title."

Indeed, after stopping Scott Belshaw in his last outing, Fury is somewhat disappointed that he does not already have the Irish title around his waist.

"I was hoping that the Belshaw fight could have been for the Irish title because I thought it was worthy of it but you need to have been in a scheduled 8-rounder to fight for the Irish belt and the Belshaw fight was my first," he explained.

However, he is certain that it is only a matter of time before he claims the strap - provided he can find someone to fight him for it.

"It hasn't been fought for since McBride won it 12 years ago but it has a great tradition so it would be great to see the title active again," he enthused.

"I want to win as many titles as I can in this game. I'd love to start out with the Irish and English titles and then move on to British, Commonwealth and European titles before going on to the world scene.

"There are actually a couple of unbeaten Irish heavyweights out there who you'd think would jump at the chance of fighting for the Irish title. Declan Timlin and Coleman Barrett are both unbeaten in 7 fights and they're both from Galway but like everyone else I don't think they want to know about it.

"The challenge is out there for them so if they want it then we can get it on for the Irish title as soon as possible.

"I'll take on any Irish heavyweight out there; all I want is the opportunity to fight for the Irish title."

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