Felix Sturm did not want to be tempted to end his career spontaneously after the crushing defeat against Istvan Szili.
The 43-year-old stated that he now wanted to discuss this with his family and the promoter in peace, remaining just as undecided as he had been in the twelve rounds in the ring.
In a win against the Hungarian in Dortmund's Westfalenhalle, Sturm could have boxed for a world championship belt for the sixth time.
Nothing will come of it now.
And so his promoter Ludger Inholte gave him a blunt indication of how to proceed.
“Working your way up from the bottom at 43 is difficult.
I think the tasks ahead of him are more in the sporting management area," said the real estate entrepreneur.
"It was Felix's last chance." Inholte himself admitted that he hadn't expected the fight to end like this.
Sturm took a good beating in the ring, to say the least.
Szili's victory was never in jeopardy, even though one of the three judges adventurously scored the fight a draw.
Instead of Sturm, Szili, who was also promoted by Inholte, will now fight against the British Lerrone Richards for the world title in the super middleweight division of the small IBO association.
Sturm has already been world champion five times, but with the important associations WBA, WBO and IBF.
Against Hungary, who was four years younger, things didn't go to plan from the start.
Then there was a mishap in the third round.
Szili hit Sturm with his head in one action, the referee rightly saw no intention in it.
The former champion still suffered a cut above his left eye and was angry at the end.
"Unfortunately, it was very messy, the referee unfortunately let it go.
But I'm a sportsman and I accept the judgement," said the man from Leverkusen.
However, Sturm also admitted that the fight was completely different than expected.
Impressed by this and hampered by the cut, Sturm never found his rhythm.
The seventh round even had to be interrupted 38 seconds before the end, Sturm was facing a technical knockout because of the bleeding on his head. Only with the approval of the ring doctor was Sturm allowed to continue the fight.
That didn't change anything about the course.
Szili continued to punch happily and in the final round threw up his arms triumphantly ten seconds before the gong.
Immediately after the fight, he did not reveal why Sturm was so inhibited and passive.
Former heavyweight Axel Schulz had a possible explanation at Bild TV.
"Maybe the pressure was too great, he wanted to take his last big chance," said the crowd favorite.
"I also tried to make a comeback once and everything fell on me at the time."