In news that will come as a massive shock to many, Irish Light Middleweight Champion Dee ‘Waldo’ Walsh has announced his retirement from the ring.

The hugely talented Belfast fighter won the Irish title in November 2014 against Terry Maughan.

He was heavily tipped as one of Ireland’s best prospects but never defended that crown and only fought twice in 2015.

The undefeated fighter issued the following statement via Facebook.

“I’m sure a lot of people have probably guessed, the people I know and I’m sure a lot of people have heard through the grapevine I’ve packed boxing in!! I’m gonna do a video interview next week with Hugh O Halloran about why I have gave it up so give it a watch!!”

“All I ever wanted to do when I was younger was win a fight in the national stadium, I’ve actually lost count how many fights I actually ended up winning there, winning an Irish title, representing my country, winning an Irish Professional title and ending up with a 12 win 0 loss professional record! Can’t thank all the people enough who helped me along the way, right from Frankie Mccourt, Holy Trinity ABC, Gerard Mc Cafferty and Mark Dunlop and of course a lot of people Inbetween!”