Luke Jackson's boxing career is over after the Australian lightweight lost his opening bout at the London Olympics.

Jackson, the skipper of the Aussie boxing squad, was thumped 20-7 by China's Qiang Liu at the Excel Arena on Sunday - with national coach Don Abnett revealing that would be it for the 27-year-old.

"He's disappointed because that's his last fight," said Abnett, with Jackson too distraught to speak after the loss.

"He'll probably come on as a coach now.

"He's trained really hard for this. We thought this morning we had him covered."

Jackson struggled to handle Liu's speed, and was on the back foot from the outset after losing the opening two rounds convincingly.

The score blew out in the final round as the Tasmanian went for the knockout blow.

"I shouted out halfway through the round to start loading up to try and hurt him because that to me was the last option," Abnett said.