Dillian Whyte has ruled out retirement in the wake of his crushing knockout loss to Moses Itauma.
Whyte looked like a shadow of his former self as he was dispatched inside 119 seconds by the precocious 20-year-old talent.
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The nature of the defeat led to calls for the rugged veteran to hang up his gloves.
But in a statement released on social media, ‘The Bodysnatcher’ has vowed to box on.
He wrote: “This is not where my story ends. I may have lost this fight, but not the fire that built me.
“Thank you to everyone who’s been standing by me through the highs and lows. I’ll be back.”
Whyte’s career has stagnated over the last three years.
Before squaring off with Itauma, the Brit hadn’t competed in a significant fight since his knockout loss to Tyson Fury in April 2022.
A combination of injuries and a failed drug test led to several opportunities passing him by.
In August 2023, ahead of his proposed rematch with Anthony Joshua, the Brit tested positive for an undisclosed banned substance.
However, an investigation conducted by the Texas Boxing Commission determined that a contaminated supplement had caused the positive drug test, and so Whyte was cleared to resume his career one year later.
Within a few days of the ruling, Whyte returned to the ring to retire a timid Christian Hammer on his stool in Ireland.
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He then boxed once more at the back end of 2024, stopping the unheralded Ebenzer Tetteh in seven rounds in a performance that left a lot to be desired.
A decent step-up fight against Joe Joyce was due to follow in April of this year.
But as talkSPORT.com first reported, Whyte was forced to pull out of the bout with an injury.
Whyte then sat on the sidelines until he locked horns with Itauma in August.
A victory would have secured him a No.1 ranking with the WBO and a potential title shot, should Oleksandr Usyk‘s belts fragment.
However, Whyte looked every one of his 37 years as he laboured to the fourth defeat of his professional career.