FORMER UNIFIED WORLD bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett has announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 27.
A series of injuries suffered over recent years has forced the Belfast native to hang up his gloves.
Burnett (20-1, 10 KOs) won the IBF world bantamweight title with a decision victory over Lee Haskins in June 2017.
He unified four months later with a unanimous decision win against WBA super world bantamweight champion Zhanat Zhakiyanov.
“Although my retirement is forced through injuries, I carry a heart full of satisfaction and gratitude,” he said on Friday.
“I have achieved my childhood dream and secured my future heath, which is something no amount of money or titles can provide.
“I would like to thank everyone at MTK Global and Top Rank, Sky Sports and Matchroom Boxing for providing me the opportunity to fulfil my potential as a fighter.”
Burnett won Youth Olympic gold as an amateur in 2010 and ended his career on a winning note, knocking out Jelbirt Gomera in six rounds at the Ulster Hall in Belfast back in May.
On the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly, Andy Dunne tells Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey about where it all went wrong for Joe Schmidt’s Ireland
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