IT is devastation for Damien Sullivan as an injury sustained in training has not only ruled him out of next week's Commonwealth Games, but forced his retirement from the sport.

The Emerald super-heavyweight was due to compete in his second Games having fought at heavyweight at the Gold Coast in 2018, but it wasn't to be.

Sullivan released a statement today (Friday) confirming his career in the ring is now over, but he can sail off immensely proud of all he achieved.

Following the 2018 Games, he decided to make the switch to the professional arena.

A debut win at the Ulster Hall against Pawel Strykowski was followed by a devastating first-round KO loss to Poland's Mateusz Kubiszyn and while he did return in February 2020 to overcome Jiri Svacina, his heart just wasn't in the punch-for-pay code.

The arrival of Covid-19 would leave 'The Vanilla Gorilla' firmly in limbo and indeed, was retired from boxing for a spell.

Returning as an amateur hadn't even crossed his mind, but when it was confirmed this was an option, he decided to test the waters once more and earned his spot on the team for Birmingham, but just under a week from the opening ceremony, has been forced to withdraw and close the curtain on his time in the ring.

"Regrettably I have been medically ruled out from competing at my second Commonwealth Games," he wrote.

"This is absolutely devastating for me as I have been away from my family for the last four months and committed so much time to this camp. On top of this, I will be retiring from the sport of boxing.

"Over the last few years, the injuries have been progressively getting worse, so doctors and my family have both spoke with me and the right decision is to step away from the sport.

"This sport has given me some of the best memories of my life. I have overachieved massively and seen the world, met some of my best friends in the world and I wouldn't change a thing.

"I gave everything I could and more and I always wore my heart on my sleeve, but unfortunately my style has an expiry date and my time is up - my family and health will be put first.

"I have struggled the last week and a half and have been in a bad place with everything but I am slowly coming to terms with it all and no doubt will be feeling better soon.

"To my team competing at the Commonwealth Games, massive good luck - you can all bring back gold medals."