Anthony Joshua will retire from boxing after his defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr - if he sticks to his pre-fight promise.
The Brit was stopped in the seventh round by the Mexican American at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
He was dropped four times on his way to a first professional defeat which saw him lose his three heavyweight world titles.
Joshua had last visited the canvas during his epic back-and-forth victory over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in 2017.
And last week he said he would quit the sport if he suffered another such night.
"It was a slugfest, it wasn’t even a technical fight where he caught me,"Joshua told JOE. "It was just a slugfest.
"It was one of those where I had to go down to get back up.
"I learned I was too top-heavy as a heavyweight. I was doing my weights and I couldn’t carry my body properly. I also learned how to pace myself.
"Most importantly I said to my coach, 'if I have another one of these fights, I'm done with boxing'.
"I said ‘I should be good enough so I don’t have to go through hell and back just to win a fight. It should be good competition but I shouldn’t have to go through all that to win."
Since losing to Ruiz, Joshua has insisted he will exercise his right to an immediate rematch with the second instalment pencilled in for the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in November.
But his promoter Eddie Hearn is concerned his fighter may never be the same again.
"This will eat him up bad,” he said. "Some fighters lose and fight back, some never come back the same."
