Gary Sykes announces retirement, pulls out of fight with Sean Dodd
Monday 4 November 2019 12:13, UK
Former British super-featherweight champion Gary Sykes has announced he is retiring with immediate effect and is withdrawing from his fight with Sean Dodd.
Sykes (28-5-6KO) was scheduled to face Dodd on the undercard of Tony Bellew's WBC world cruiserweight title defence against BJ Flores in Liverpool on October 15 - live on Sky Sports.
The 32-year-old Sykes was attempting to rebound from being knocked out in the second round of his bout with Olympic gold medallist Luke Campbell in March.
That now looks set to be the last fight of his professional career with Sykes - who defeated Anthony Crolla in 2012 to become British champion - saying he is no longer motivated to compete.
In a statement on Facebook, Sykes said: "I would like to announce that with heavy heart I'm retiring from boxing.
"Boxing has been the only thing I've known for 17 years so it's not a decision I take lightly and understand there will be regrets but I just feel like I'm chasing myself of old.
"It's no disrespect to Sean Dodd but I think myself five years ago would have walked this fight. Now the hunger and desire is not what it once was, I want people to remember me at my best not on the slide trying to recapture past form.
"It was a quick decision, I'd been looking good in sparring, everything was there but one morning I woke up and thought..... I don't want to train today, which as happened many times, but I acted on it for the first time. THAT was the moment I knew I had to retire."
