NIGEL BENN, emotional and in tears, announced his retirement from boxing at a capacity 10,000-seat Newcastle arena last night after losing his WBC world super-middleweight title on a split decision verdict over 12 rounds to Thulane Sugarboy Malinga.

He then received the biggest cheer of the night for proposing to his long-term girlfriend, Caroline Jackson, the happiest ring announcement of the evening.

The victorious opponent Malinga, is a solid, imposing South African who has
had many false dawns. This was his fourth world title fight in seven years, the three previous attempts being unsuccessful, though he has never dishonoured himself. Indeed, only one man has laid a thick enough glove on him to force a knockout victory, that man being Roy Jones Jr, the talented IBF champion.                                                                            Malinga had waited nearly four years for this rematch and there could be no complaints about his victory. Losing to a below-par Benn by a mere half-point in Birmingham in May 1992 hurt his pride. He exacted ample compensation last night.

Benn pitched his entrance perfectly. White boots, black socks, decked in
Geordie black and white stripes, but with some justification. His five years in
the Royal Fusiliers were spent with a Newcastle-based unit.

The first three rounds were cagey affairs, with Malinga edging at least two of them. Malinga plundered the Benn jaw with a succession of right hooks in the fourth round to leave the champion with a badly bruised right eye.
Benn's problem, not for the first time, was his apparent need to get hurt
before clicking into the gear that drives him through and beyond the dangers of disintegration.

Bang. A thunderous right hook exploded into the face of Malinga at the end of the fifth and Benn was back in business. Malinga made the count and sought revenge. In the sixth, three consecutive left jabs had blood spilling down Benn's chin and the roar of the crowd became a worried rumble.
Benn had to rethink his strategy. The Benn of old would have piled in to
pummel his way out of trouble. New Benn attempted to step back to avoid the lashing right hand of Malinga, but found the temptation to get involved too much.

Solid punching became the order of the day, but too often it was Benn getting caught as he stepped into Malinga's space. As he entered the final round, it was clear that, short of a knockout, Benn would lose.

Despite frantic support, the miracle never arrived and Malinga saw out the
final round to shouts of ``keep working baby, it's yours, it's all yours'' from
his enthusiastic corner. When the verdict came, a split decision in favour of
the South African, the business of the evening was thought to be concluded
until Benn's tearful farewell.

Grabbing the microphone after the announcement of his defeat, Benn declared: "Thanks for everything. Thank you for supporting me through my career. I think I've done my bit for British boxing. I've fought the best, I've fought everyone, but I've come down here tonight and Sugar Boy Malinga he prepared good. But that's no excuse."

As tears welled in his eyes, already puffy from the bruising clash, he choked
on the words: "Now it is time to call it a day.''

Before the main course came an intriguing appetiser with Tom Johnson making the ninth defence of his IBF featherweight title. Ever Beleno of Colombia provided the opposition. Meanwhile, at ringside, Naseem Hamed, Britain's irrepressibly precocious WBO featherweight champion watched with interest.

Beleno, 27, and also a southpaw is four years younger than the defending
champion. He boasted only one defeat in 41 professional bouts and soon had the biggest roar of the night up to that point, when he floored Johnson with a clubbing left hand 30 seconds into the fight.

Although Johnson recovered quickly, Beleno continued to find his chin in the
second and third rounds with some clean left hooks. Johnson clawed his way back into the flight with some neat flurries when close in, but was rocked again in the sixth by the piercing left hand of the Colombian.
By the 10th, Johnson had regained his composure, was applying persistent
damage with good bodywork and had Beleno nursing a cut above his left eye.

The 12th and final round heralded the end for the plucky Colombian. A solid Johnson combination left Beleno sprawled over the canvas. Although Beleno tried to right himself, his legs had given up the fight and at that stage all three judges had Johnson narrowly in the lead.

Johnson, in acclaiming his victory by a technical knockout did something very unwise by vocalising his desire to meet Britain's Hamed. On cue, Hamed climbed into the ring, his name echoing around the arena, to deliver his thoughts on the matter, personally to the American.

Johnson be warned: resilience can only work so far