Former boxing champion announces decision to retire after suffering brain damage

Former world champion Heather Hardy has announced her heartbreaking retirement from boxing after being warned she risked going blind from brain damage if she kept fighting.

Hardy, 42, briefly held the WBO featherweight world title in 2018 before losing it to Amanda Serrano the following year. She fought just four more times, losing twice, including her last fight, a rematch with Serrano in Dallas last summer. Hardy was due to return to the ring this weekend in a bare-knuckle bout with Christine Ferea - but has now pulled out and does not expect to fight again.

In an emotional social media post, she said: "My fight for May 11 is off. After my fight last summer with Amanda, my vision remained blurred for a few days. I went for an MRI and to get my eyes checked while I was still in TX and it was diagnosed the after effects of a concussion [but in] six-to-eight months I should be fine.

So basically I needed a fight, and it never got better. My daughter is in college. Everyone thinks I made millions in my career but i didn't, I went paycheck to paycheck keeping that kid in the best neighbourhood so she could go to the best schools. And I needed to take the fight, so long story short a month into training for Christine and everything got worse with my sight. I was down to 123lb because I couldn't eat, I wasn't sleeping I was so weak.

"I hadn't told anyone how bad it was, not my boyfriend not my coaches. I thought I could make it through the ten minute fight, but after a very light sparring session i couldn't see s*** for two days. I didn't eat or sleep Friday to Monday, and I knew i was too weak to do this shit.

"After finally seeing a doctor, he said I've had too many concussions. When you have a concussion, a piece of your brain dies and you never get it back. Imagine that? In ten years I've had too much brain damage. I can't get anymore or else I won't be able to see. No running, no jogging, no jumping rope, and no getting hit in the head. So I said the thing ya know what that means."