Nelson urges Thompson to quit

Nelson (right) beat Thompson in 1999

Johnny Nelson has said rival Carl Thompson should quit after the 37-year-old lost his IBO cruiserweight title in Manchester on Monday night.

Thompson, who recorded two thrilling wins over Chris Eubank during his reign as WBO champion in 1998, suffered a fourth-round knockout by American Ezra Sellers.

"The last person that knows it's time to quit is always the fighter himself and nobody wants to retire a fighter," said Nelson.

"But that's a sad way to see Carl finish after all the exciting fights he's been in."

Nelson may defend his WBO title against Sellers

Nelson dethroned Thompson as WBO champion with a controversial fifth-round stoppage in 1999 and talk of a rematch has raged ever since.

But Thompson's loss on Monday has sent him back to square one and now Nelson believes it is time for the old warhorse to hang up his gloves.

"I'd have loved to have had a return bout, it would have been an exciting fight for me and Carl, and the chance of us fighting was getting closer and closer," said Nelson.

"But now his people want to be seriously thinking about this guy's career. A loss like this should have been avoided."

Nelson recently added the WBU heavyweight belt to his trophy cabinet, but has said he will continue defending his WBO cruiserweight crown.

"Ezra Sellers was formerly my number one challenger until he suffered a loss, now he may get himself into contention again," said Nelson.

"But I would have no trouble with him. He made fundamental errors against Thompson and was just wide open."