By Keith Idec

Overwhelmed by emotion, Billy Dib announced his retirement Friday.

The former IBF featherweight champion said in the ring following his lopsided loss to Tevin Farmer that he won’t fight again. The 32-year-old Australian cried and hugged his family members after announcing his intentions.

“Tevin Farmer, you’re a great champion,” Dib said. “I know you’re gonna be a champion for a very, very long time. That was a hell of a fight. And to all the fans, thank you so much for supporting me over my career. I just wanna say thank you very much. Guys, this is officially the last time that’ll step into the squared circle.

“And I want everyone to know that no matter what happens in your life, just keep working hard and dreams come true, because this was a dream of mine, to fight for a world title at home. And I’ve done it. Thank you very much.”

If this is indeed Dib’s final fight, the Sydney native will retire with a 43-5 record, including 24 knockouts and two no-contests. He held the IBF featherweight championship from July 2011 to March 2013.

Dib is 0-4 in his past four title fights, however, two of which he lost by technical knockout.

Russia’s Evgeny Gradovich stopped Dib in the ninth round of their rematch in November 2013 in Macau, China. Russia’s Gradovich, then unbeaten, defeated Dib by split decision to win the IBF’s 126-pound crown eight months earlier in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

After Gradovich defeated him twice, Japan’s Takashi Miura stopped Dib in the third round of their May 2015 fight for Miura’s WBC super featherweight crown in Tokyo.

Farmer floored Dib in the ninth round and soundly defeated him in their 12-round fight for the then-vacant IBF super featherweight title at Technology Park in Redfern, Australia, a Sydney suburb. All three judges – Levi Martinez (119-108), Ian Scott (120-107) and Carl Zappia (118-109) – scored their fight for Farmer by big margins.

“Billy Dib is a hell of a fighter,” said Farmer, who improved to 26-4-1. “He had a hell of a career. Two-time world champion, man. A great fighter to win the belt from.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.