Former world champion Groves retires from boxing

Groves, who last fought when he was knocked out by Callum Smith in Saudi Arabia in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in September, said the desire to continue in the sport "had left me".

That was one of four defeats Groves suffered across his 32-fight career, with the other three all coming in world-title fights against either Carl Froch, who he fought twice, or Badou Jack.

He finally became a world champion at the fourth attempt when he stopped Fedor Chudinov at Bramall Lane in May 2017.

Prior to fighting Chudinov, Groves had beaten Eduard Gutknecht on points in a brutal contest that resulted in the German suffering a bleed on the brain and being placed in an induced coma.

Groves admitted he was "always going to struggle with his situation" and cited Gutknecht's state as a reason for him retiring.

In part of a lengthy statement posted on Instagram, Groves said: "This fight brought home the realisation that boxing can have brutal consequences.

View this post on Instagram

My retirement statement. Thank you. #TeamSaintGG “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life.”

A post shared by George Groves (@stgeorgegroves) on Jan 28, 2019 at 3:28am PST

"After this, I truly felt like my fighting days were numbered. After winning the WBA world title I decided to only continue fighting while it felt necessary.

"After the birth of my second son last year and losing in the final of WBSS, I knew the desire to fight had left me.