Knowing when to call it a day is a challenge for any sportsman and one Miles Shinkwin says he will wrestle with after his latest defeat.

The Bushey boxer went down to a unanimous points decision in his WBA Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight title shot against Jake Ball on Wednesday.

All three of the 29-year-old’s defeats – he boasts a favourable 14-3 record – have come in title fights and Shinkwin, while making no concrete decision about his future, accepts he is at a crossroads.

“Retirement has crossed my mind. I know so many people in sports who are older, late 30s or 40s, who say they could have done something if they had given it one more go,” Shinkwin said.

“That is a life of regret and I don’t want to have that, so will speak to my manager and take time over it.

“I said previously that it was win or bust for me last night, but I wasn’t saying it was win or I will retire. I need to see what my options are.

“I don’t want to rush to any silly decisions but also don’t want to be fighting people of a really low level.”

Many billed the meeting between two fighters with track records of winning by knockout – Shinkwin has seven and Ball eight – as a potentially explosive bout.

It turned out to be quite the opposite, however, as Ball looked to stifle Shinkwin’s well-known hitting power with an evasive approach.

It worked well and Shinkwin had little argument with the judges scoring on a night when Ball took his record to 11-1.

Shinkwin does, however, feel that he matched Ball for much of the fight at York Hall and was disappointed that he didn’t manage to dictate terms.

“I am not feeling great as you can imagine,” he said. “I knew that he would run away but thought at some point in the 10 rounds he would have to come forward, which would let me do my better work.

“He never did that once and I can’t fault him for that. Everyone built it up as a barnstormer of a fight, but I knew it wouldn’t be that way.

“That would have played into my hands and he is four inches bigger than me with a better reach, so why would he engage me?

“He used all his attributes and there is not a lot I can say. It feels like I haven’t been in a fight. I could have gone another 10 rounds.”