Britain’s former world welterweight champion Kell Brook has retired after a career that saw him record 40 wins from 43 professional fights.
The 36-year-old’s final bout was a sixth-round victory against Amir Khan in February, which settled one of British boxing’s longest-running feuds.
“My heart’s no longer in it, I’ve got nothing left to prove,” he told the Telegraph.
“I had a long chat with my family. It is over for me. I’ll never box again.”
The Sheffield fighter added: “It’s a little emotional to be actually saying this out loud. My mam [Julie] is relieved. I think everyone around me is pleased.
“Truth is, boxing is a very, very tough, dangerous sport, one in which you can be legally killed in the ring, and I’ve finished now with all my faculties intact.”
Of Brook’s 40 wins, 28 were by knockout while his three defeats came at the hands of middleweight Gennady Golovkin and welterweights Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.
He held the IBF world title from 2014 to 2017 after claiming the crown by beating American Shawn Porter on points in California and in 2017 was ranked the world’s best active welterweight by The Ring magazine.
Asked if he could one day be lured back to the sport, the fighter known as ‘Special K’ said it was unlikely.
“I just don’t see it. It’s not there any more,” he said.
His fight with Khan in Manchester was Brook’s first since November 2020 and his first win in two years.
After the bout, which was stopped by the referee, Brook announced he was “back, baby”, but in stepping away from the sport he rules out potential match-ups against Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr.
“Like I said, highs and lows, a rollercoaster, it’s been a long journey and all I’ve known,” said Brook.
