Fury jibes threaten to overshadow pulsating performance by Price

British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Price made sure the first ever professional meeting between two British Olympians was short and brutal.

Harrison, surely now at the end of an underwhelming 12-year stint in the paid ranks following his march to gold in Sydney, was knocked out after 82 seconds as fans in Price’s home town of Liverpool were treated to a clinical display of fearsome power punching.

The Beijing bronze medallist drew rich praise from all quarters, with one notable exception.

Attending James DeGale’s successful European super-middleweight title defence against France’s Hadillah Mohoumadi in Kent, Fury lambasted Harrison, Price’s promoter Frank Maloney and Price himself – who he then bizarrely suggested had a “gay lover” in Liverpool’s British light-heavyweight champion Tony Bellew.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, Fury posted a video on his Twitter page where he repeated the bizarre claim and the improbable prospect of taking on Price and Bellew at the same time, telling the former: “I’m going to put you in intensive care.”

This echoed the 24-year-old Mancunian’s much-criticised threat of “killing you in the ring” before he fought Dereck Chisora in July last year - a jibe for which he apologised.

Reacting to Fury’s television diatribe, Price was perplexed.

“He’s round the bend,” he said.

“I don’t know what to make of that. He cannot handle other people getting praise and credit and that’s why he spat his dummy out on TV and made an absolute fool of himself by the sound of it.

“He can say what he wants.”

Robert Smith, general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, had no initial comment to make regarding Fury yesterday.

Saturday night’s victory was Price’s first defence of the British and Commonwealth belts he won over four rounds against Sam Sexton in May at Aintree.

Those titles were only available because Fury chose to vacate them when a clash between himself and then mandatory challenger Price was set to go to purse bids in February.

A clash with seasoned veteran Matt Skelton on December 8 is next on the agenda for Price.