By Jake Donovan

Faced with the risk of permanent blindness had he chosen to continue his career, lightweight contender John Murray officially announced his retirement from the sport Wednesday evening.

One month shy of his 30th birthday, Murray (33-3, 20KOs) was hoping for one more run towards a major title, though the effort has proven to be an uphill climb in recent times. The all-action Brit suffered a 10th round stoppage at the hands of fellow Mancunian Anthony Crolla in April, with all three career losses coming in his past five contests.

The last three years of his career were spent fighting through a detached retina, for which he’s had two separate operations in efforts to heal. The declining vision in his right eye was enough to realize that he’s accomplished all he would in the ring.

“I’ve had 20/20 vision in my eyes my entire life,” Murray told ITV News. “Now, I can’t hardly see anything out of my “right” eye. My physician told me, keep taking punches like that and you will go blind. It’s just not worth it.”

Murray was a red-hot prospect upon entering the pro ranks in 2003, cruising through the early years while finding the right mix between boxing and brawling.

Included among his rise to contention was his stateside debut in 2005, appearing on the undercard of countryman Robin Reid in his Showtime-televised failed title bid versus then-unbeaten super middleweight titlist Jeff Lacy in Tampa, Florida. Murray’s night was far more memorable, dominating Johnny Walker en route to a six-round shutout on the non-televised portion of the undercard.

The wins continued to pile up for Murray, who ventured back to the states to appear on a pair of Las Vegas undercards headlined by Floyd Mayweather in 2007 – his wins over Oscar de la Hoya and Manchester’s most famous boxer, Ricky Hatton.

Murray’s shot at the big time came in 2011, though landing on the losing end of England’s domestic fight of the year in an eight-round shootout with Kevin Mitchell. The bout was a savage war that ended with Murray dropped and eventually stopped, but mutual respect existing between the two combatants even to this day.

“Sad to hear (that John Murray) has had to retire but am proud that I got to share the ring with him (and we) both won [F]ight of the (Year),” Mitchell said through his verified Twitter account.

The fight saw both fighters eventually go on to challenge for separate lightweight belts, although both came up short. Mitchell fell prey to Ricky Burns in May ’12, while Murray suffered an 11th round stoppage at the hands of Brandon Rios in their Dec. ’11 tilt at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Murray was playing with house money, as Rios was forced to vacate the title at the scales after showing up overweight. The belt was only on the line for Murray, who gave a respectable account of himself but ultimately came up short, thus leaving the title vacant.

From that point onward, his career was slowed by eye injuries, initially stepping away from the game before attempting a comeback last November. Two wins followed prior to running into Crolla.

“I’ve had a glorious career there’s no doubt about it,” Murray continued in his interview with ITV News. “I’m grateful for what I’ve achieved. When you’re younger you don’t think about going blind in your eye. You just think it’s a black eye, and in a couple of weeks it goes away. You never think it turns out like this.

“I will miss it. I’ll miss fight night; I’ll miss training. As much as I hated it at the time, I’m going to miss getting up to do those sprints in the rain and snow.”

While Murray’s fight days are through, he’s hardly made a clean break from the sport. The Brit now spends his time running Murray Machine Gym in Reddish, mere minutes from his Manchester hometown. From here on out, he will have to simply revel in the success and efforts of those now under his wing.

“Watching these lads train for a fight, watching their hands getting raised and their reaction after, that gives me more of a buzz than anything I’ve done in the ring,” Murray humbly states.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of krikya360.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America . Twitter: @JakeNDaBox