The Irishman, who also looks after Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux, snapped up Van Heerden in the summer and had looked to make waves with ‘The Heat’ in the next few months.
Van Heerden, 26, has now decided that the move is not for him and has signed with old promoter Rodney Berman at Golden Gloves, cancelling a planned December 14 debut with Hyde in Spain.
“Chris wanted an IBO title defense and people (in the US) were not prepared to foot the bill to put on that fight,” Hyde told World Boxing News.
“I released Chris because he said he wanted to stay in South Africa and defend his title there. I knew he was looking at going with the SA promoter (Berman) and I had no problem with it.
“I wish Chris all the best for the future.”
Berman has already announced that Van Heerden will fight next February in a third defence of his 147lb belt, meaning a frustrating eleven months of inactivity since the southpaw’s last victory over Matthew Hatton.
Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay for tweets of upcoming news on WBN
