Bradford boxer Darren Tetley awaiting surgery results

However, further assessments with the surgeon in July will dictate whether the Holme Wood star will fight in the ring again.

Tetley sustained the injury (fractured eye socket) in his last bout in December, when he retired from the contest after receiving a vicious shot to the face from his opponent, Elliot Whale.

Thankfully, after waiting patiently, Tetley finally received the required care and underwent surgery on July 7.

He told the T&A that, although he is on the mend, there are still more assessments that need to be overseen to determine whether he can even consider fighting again.

He said: “Surgery went as well as it could have done, so I’m happy with that.

“I do still have some double vision and the right side of my cheek and lip are still numb, which are both seen as normal after this type of surgery.

“There are still a number of things that need to fully recover, so my visit to the surgeon on July 23 is going to be extremely important as I will find out if everything is healing as it should have done.

“We’ll go from there, after that; that’s when I’ll be able to make some life decisions regarding boxing and whether I will fight again.

“Theoretically, the decision is now in my surgeon’s hands. If they think I can continue fighting after a full recovery, then it’s down to me, but if they think I’m in danger of losing my eyesight if I was to return to boxing, then that would be it.”

Darren Tetley (left) has had some great career moments, especially in this bout against Ekow Essuman (right) at Wembley Stadium on the Tyson Fury versus Dillian Whyte undercard (Image: PA)

Even if Tetley does get the go ahead to continue boxing from his surgeon on July 23, he admitted that it won’t be a straightforward decision on whether he wants to continue within the sport anyway.

He said: “It would be upsetting if it had to end in this way because I’ve been boxing most of my life and when you’ve dedicated so much time and effort to this sport throughout the years, you realise how important it is to you.

“To have that suddenly ripped away from you, yes, it would be hard to deal with.

“However, the last few fights that I’ve had, the motivation and love for the sport has slowly dwindled.

“I wasn’t enjoying training and everyday was becoming a chore, and I think that showed in the results I had (fell to defeat in four of his previous five bouts).”

Tetley added: “Of course, the opportunity might present itself for me to give it another go if the surgeon says I can.

“However, I need to be fully committed if I’m going to do that; I can’t leave no stone unturned.

“I also need to get the love back for it.

“With the injury, I’ve missed things like sparring and bag work, but I haven’t missed the fighting aspect of it and the training in the lead up to it.

“So, for me, I’ll get fit again because I like keeping myself active, but there is no guarantee that I’ll return to the ring as a professional.

“It has to be right for me.”