JOHN Wayne Hibbert admits he wishes he had taken the earlier days of his career more seriously after announcing his retirement at the end of last year.

The Horndon-on-the-Hill boxer was beaten by Martin Gethin in November in a fight for the previously vacant IBF International super lightweight title.

But, after a thrilling opening, he was comprehensively beaten inside four rounds, with Hibbert announcing his retirement after the defeat at Wembley Arena.

And, following back-to-back defeats for the first time in his career, he said it has been a tough transition, after leaving the ring for the final time.

“I have been thinking a lot about it (my retirement),” said Hibbert, 32. “It has been my job for the past five years and it is all I have done.

“Mentally it is so hard and I have been leading some personal training sessions but it is not taking up as much time as I want it to.

“I am helping the kids at The Gateway Academy and that is something positive and I would love to stay in boxing in some capacity.

“It is definitely over and I promised my kids that. It has been hard to accept and the reaction time has gone.

“This is a chapter in my life that has closed. It is day by day at the moment.

“I look back and I can’t say there are no regrets but I think I should have taken it more seriously in my prime.

“If I had then who knows how far I could have gone. Maybe it could have lasted longer. It is like anything – could I have done it differently? But it didn’t happen.”

Hibbert, a former commonwealth super-lightweight champion, ended his career with a record of 17 victories and five defeats.

And he revealed he actually broke his nose a week before the fight with Gethin, with the blow he sustained in the first round breaking it once again and causing Hibbert considerable distress.

“I broke my nose 10 days before the fight and then he caught me with a good shot early on and buckled it again,” he said.

“Fair play to Martin Gethin. I didn’t turn up and he won so congratulations to him.

“I believe 18 months ago he wouldn’t have lived with me but it happened and you have to accept it.”

Hibbert’s first bout as a professional was in June 2009, as he got the better of Damien Turner at York Hall.

But he said his fondest memory came three years later, as he beat Tommy Coward in his hometown to end the Doncaster man’s unbeaten record.

“That was a great moment for me,” he said. “It was up in Doncaster against a fighter that was 7-0 and I had lost my last bout.

“I boxed with him all the way through the amateurs and he was excellent at that point in his career and I beat him.

“Beating Tyler Goodjohn at the O2 Arena was a great moment as well. I can look back fondly at a number of fights.”