SEAN McFarlane says he will call time on his bare-knuckle boxing career win or lose at The O2 Arena in London on Saturday.

The 38-year-old from Chapelford thought long and hard about entering the ring again after losing to Ricardo Franco at the first hurdle in the Prizefighter tournament in January.

But, after coming out of retirement for that battle, he does not want his time to end on a loss and put his heart and soul into preparation for his swansong contest against up-and-coming Leeds boxer Scott McHugh on the Prizefighter final undercard.

“I’ve confirmed that this will be the retirement fight,” said the traffic management foreman, who is on the books at Optimum Boxing in Milner Street.

“I’ve spent a long time trying to get to this level, but now I’ve got here it’s just so hard to keep up with the up-and-coming young fighters.

“I’m 38 now, I’ve got a job and kids. If I did carry on I’d have had to quit my job to compete at this level.

“But with me being at the end of my career I think it’s the right time to call it a day.

“I just need to get this win at the top level just to prove that I should be where I am.

“I didn’t want to go out on a loss last time, but no matter what this time I’ve promised my family it’s the last one."

It seems McFarlane has left no stone unturned in his preparation.

“I’ve put a lot of effort into this fight camp," he said.

“I seem to be getting more knowledge every time I go into a fight camp and push myself that little bit more.

“I’m going to be fighting at the lightest weight I’ve ever fought at.

“It’s been hard, being at my age. I used to fight at 14 stone and now I’m fighting at 12 stone, it’s a hell of a difference.

“My opponent is a good fighter, he’s up and coming, only 25, but he’s got a lot of gaps in his work.

“He’s got a lot to work on and I think I can exploit his weaknesses a lot more than I could Franco.

“There’s a lot more thought process going into how I’m going to take him out, plus I feel as though I’m carrying my power a bit better at this weight.

“I do feel I’ve upped my level this time as well, but to get to where I am now it’s taken for me to be training two or three times a day.

“Prepped 2 Go in Runcorn have been providing me meals every day, so that’s helped me keep my weight down and reach the 12 stone mark.

"I’ve been training at Optimum Boxing at least once a day but then I’ve been to other gyms, such as in Liverpool and Birkenhead.

“I’ve been training with another lad who fights for us as well. His name is Paul Shredder, Birkenhead, he’s helped me out quite a bit and will do my corner on the day. I’ve been going down his gym and sparring with his lads.”

He has had to make sacrifices too.

“I’ve not touched a drink for 15 weeks – I’m a Liverpool fan as well so watching the Champions League final with my mates and not being able to drink wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever done," he said.

“It sounds a little thing, but it’s big when you’re a massive Liverpool fan. When you’ve got everyone mithering you to have a drink, but I wasn’t going to ruin it a week before my fight after putting my body through hell.”

Franco, who beat McFarlane in the first round of Prizefighter, is favourite to win the final on Saturday which would then also hand him a crack at world champion Jimmy Sweeney.

“Franco made short work of the lad in the semis, knocked him out in 30 seconds," said McFarlane.

“I was unlucky really to get the main man in the first fight for Prizefighter. He’s probably going to be the next world champion.

“A lot of the other lads, I would have put myself in a similar category as them, but Franco was levels above me to be fair and I've still not worked out what his weaknesses are.

"He’s made short work of everyone. He’s now 5 and 0 and if he wins this he gets a shot at the world title as well.

“The only two people who have beaten me are Jimmy Sweeney and Franco. Jimmy is the world champion and Franco’s going to be fighting him for the world title if he wins.

READ: McFarlane's comments after losing to Franco in January

"I know in my heart now it’s definitely the right time for me to call time.

"I’m peaking now and the only thing that’ll happen now is I’ll go downhill, and I don’t want to be remembered for the fella who stayed and got battered.

“I want to be remembered for the wins and good fights I’ve had."

McFarlane will look to find a role in the sport outside of the ring.

“It’s hard to walk away from something you love. I’ve done it constantly for 10 years, and on and off before that,” he said.

“It’s going to be a bit of a shock to the system when I leave it.

“I’ll still do my training. I’m going to help out at Optimism Boxing and try and see if I can get some lads who are coming through introduced to the bare knuckle sport from the north west area. I’ll be trying to push them on to signing up and see if they can be the next big thing.”