The 28-year-old sports star held the International Boxing Federation flyweight title from 2021 to 2023 but decided to step back from it all in November and has now explained that he still stands by his decision.
He told BoxingScene: "No regrets. I’ve had a great career. I’ve given 20 years of my life competing, traveling around the world, giving my best. I haven’t had a season off. I’ve competed every single year since 11 years old. It’s sad, and it’s probably the hardest thing to accept, but I felt, most, relieved when the circus was done. After a loss, that mindset showed and told me everything I needed to know. I don’t think I’ve made the wrong decision."
Sunny also noted that he has not entirely closed off the idea of returning at some point but just wants to focus on himself and his health first.
He said: "Win, lose or draw, I was doing that. Genuinely. My body and my mind just needs a rest from the getting ready and competing, and that desire and that cliche – that eye of the tiger that I once had – for whatever reason, unbeknown to myself, really, it just don’t seem in me the same way. When you haven’t got that fire, then a boxing ring’s not the best place for you. So how good I am, and can be, and have been, I owe it to myself to not keep getting in the ring. It’s hard to accept yourself, knowing you’re not as good as you used to be.
"I’m not close-minded to anything in this world. However, I’ve got a high standard of myself, a high standard of what I’ve been capable of doing, and if I’m honest, I’ve been short of that for quite a little while now. I’ve managed to hide it better than people have really noticed – both close to me and boxing fans. I don’t know if I’ll ever compete again, because there’s other stuff involved in the sport, and involved in my life, that I really do enjoy doing. I find myself getting more emotion and more feeling on some other things now than in the boxing ring. For the most part of my life – for over half of it – there wasn’t a single thing in boxing, outside of being in a boxing ring, that did that for me. So I don’t know. It’s not like I’m close-minded to [returning]. My main focus, really, is working on my health, working on myself, setting some foundations and leveraging my boxing career the best I can with what opportunities and possibilities I have around me."
