Promoter Eddie Hearn has given his take on the recent turn of events for the career of Olympic gold medal winner James DeGale.
The boxer was poised for major fights in 2018, against domestic rivals like George Groves, Callum Smith and Chris Eubank Jr.
But DeGale's career took a turn for the worse last Saturday night in London, when he suffered a stunning twelve round decision loss to huge underdog Caleb Truax, who with the victory walked away with DeGale's IBF super middleweight world title.
Hearn was very critical of DeGale, 31, for going forward with his career as a free agent.
DeGale went pro under the banner of Frank Warren, but eventually they parted ways and DeGale came on board with Hennessey Sports. But for the last few years DeGale was handled by Hearn - until DeGale made a decision to go out on his own as a free agent.
Hearn is especially shaking his head at nobody negotiating a rematch clause in DeGale's bout agreement for the Truax clash. Last Saturday's fight was the headliner of a card promoted by Warren at Copper Box Arena.
"Let me tell you what happens when you are a free agent: nobody gives a f*** about you," Hearn told iFL TV. "I'm not talking about the public, I'm talking about in the business.
"You want to go into a fight in a voluntary defence and not have a rematch clause? What are you playing at? Who's responsible for that? You know why? Because he doesn't have a promoter. It's been a shambles since he won that world title."
Hearn believes the loss will seriously affect DeGale's ability to secure his sought after bouts with Groves, Smith and Eubank.
"[Those fights] are in a terrible position," Hearn added. "They're probably dead, but they're certainly dead in terms of how much he's going to get [in terms of the financial split]. It would have been hard enough as him as world champion."
"I'm not sure he'll fight again. If you're not in love with the sport, if you're cutting corners, if you're not living the life, it will catch up with you. Unless he has the desire to come back, he should leave the sport. He needs some time to get his head around the defeat. He's hurting right now, and so he should be. He should be eating people like Truax for breakfast."