Shumenov retires due to eye injury

It’s over. Former cruiserweight titlist Beibut Shumenov, who had vacated his title last week after being unable to go through with his mandatory title defense because of an eye injury, has decided to officially retire from boxing. ESPN received an official statement from Shumenov on his decision.

"I have regrettably relinquished my WBA cruiserweight title and retired from boxing because of a traumatic eye injury suffered the week before my last scheduled fight," Shumenov said. "I'm extremely disappointed my boxing career has ended like this but, unfortunately, injuries are part of this sport and there's nothing I can do about it. I still have blurred vision and I need to have an additional surgery next month to try to further repair (the eye) so I don't risk blindness in my (right) eye."

The 33-year-old Shumenov was supposed to defend his WBA title against Yunier Dorticos on April 29, but suffered a severely scratched cornea during his final sparring session which forced him to withdraw from the bout - a bout that had already been pushed back several times.

Shumenov’s eye doctor, Kent L. Wellish, provided this written statement to the WBA earlier this month detailing Shumenov’s injury:

"Mr. Beibut Shumenov has a serious ocular issue, a recurrent corneal erosion of his right eye that with continued fighting puts him at risk for permanently losing his eyesight," Wellish wrote. "It is my medical opinion that he should permanently refrain from sparring, training and boxing due to the severity of damage to his eye and the high risk of further damage of vision impairment, including the possibility of permanent vision loss."

Shumenov now officially retires with a professional record of 17-2, 11 KOs. He thanks his family, friends, and fans for all their support over the years and says he looks forward to the chapter in his life with his son.

We here at BLH wish Shumenov all the best in his future endeavors.