Tyler Christopher appears to have lost his passion for boxing after the first defeat of his professional career on Saturday.

In what was meant to be the biggest night of his career, Christopher lost the televised eight-round middleweight bout at First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds, 78-75 on points to Mauro Silva, of Portugal.

The defeat was his first in 13 bouts, while his younger opponent extended his unbeaten record to 10-0. Without going into detail, the 30-year-old yesterday hinted that he was quitting the sport.

“You can announce that I’m done with boxing and I’m figuring out the next chapter in my life,” Christopher told The Royal Gazette in a text.

In an interview with Fight City after the bout, the southpaw fighter was at a loss for words.

“I just feel numb,” the Bermudian said. “To be honest, I don’t know how I feel. I have a loss on my record now.

“He didn’t hurt me. It was a close fight — I was winning the first three or four rounds, then he made an adjustment.

“He started to counter me, it became a matter of, do I commit and get countered or do I fight off the back foot and set traps?

“It was a winnable fight and I know where I went wrong. It wasn’t my night, a bad day on the job.”