"I don't want there to be a time where I'm 'too old' to box on, or where an injury retires me in or out of the ring," he said in a statement on his Instagram account. In his fight prior to the Chudinov bout Groves, 30, beat Eduard Gutknecht - the German suffered a serious brain injury that left him in a coma and unable to fight again. Groves offered a "prayer" for Gutknecht. "He was put into an induced coma for three weeks and bravely fought his way back to consciousness. He lives in Germany with his wife, three children and a full-time carer," said Groves.
"This fight brought home the realisation that boxing can have brutal consequences. After this, I truly felt like my fighting days were numbered. After winning the WBA world title I decided to only continue fighting while it felt necessary.