Josh Warrington will consider retirement if he is not able to beat Mauricio Lara in a proposed rematch.
The former IBF featherweight went into the fight against the Mexican earlier this month as the heavy favourite, but was comprehensively beaten.
Some observers believe that his camp should have thrown in the towel in the fourth round after being knocked down, but he managed to continue until the ninth before Lara was declared the victor.
Speaking to BoxingScene.com, Warrington admitted that his recall of the final five rounds are incomplete.
“I don’t remember getting put over. I remember the punches prior to getting put over but I don’t remember getting put over,” Warrington admitted..
“I remember in the fourth he buzzed me. I remember getting up, I remember walking to Howard and what I said. I said ‘I am fine to continue’. Then in around the seventh and eighth I thought I was doing all right. The eighth I probably lost, but if I got through the ninth I was really going to go for it. I had plenty left in the tank
“Round nine I got hit with a shot and I thought ‘f—’. I thought It was fight or flight, get on my bike or go with him and I decided to go with him. I don’t remember the shot that put me over. But I remember saying to Howard ‘let me get up’ and he said ‘it’s over Josh’.”
His father, Sean O’Hagan, checked with the fighter if he was taking in the conversations in the corner after being rocked in the fourth round.
“In the fourth, the last 20 seconds I was really trying to hold on and save my skin and he caught me with some more good shots,” Warrington exlpained.
“I went back to the corner and the initial 20 seconds was a bit of a blur. Then my dad said ‘Are you f—ing listening to me’.’
“I then said: ‘Dad, I’m listening’. I thought this was going to be a hard slog, but in the sixth and seventh I was completely back in there.”
Warrington has a rematch clause for Eddie Hearn to exercise and to arrange a new fight, but he confirmed that he may retire if he is not able to avenge his shock defeat.
“There is no point hanging about,” he said. “If I can’t beat this guy, I’m not mixing it with Gary Russell, no one is going to believe I’m going to mix it with him or Emanuel Navarrete.
"What’s the point? Maybe I could step up to super-featherweight for a payday. I’m not prepared to do that because it’s a hard sport so if I can’t get through this guy, then it’s like: what are you going to do, Josh?
“I think that goes to show how confident I am of beating him in a rematch. I’ve been eating Ben and Jerry’s for the past week but I’d fight him tomorrow.”