Battered and bruised, a content Cameron knew his time in the boxing ring was over after he was beaten by unanimous decision by veteran Kali Meehan at the North Shore Events Centre on Saturday night in the main event of the Super 8 card.
The Mountain Warrior, who only began boxing at 20 and went on to win a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games before turning professional, went in to the heavyweight bout with Meehan knowing it could have been his last.
Such was Cameron's conviction, he confirmed his retirement in the ring after he heard the judges had given the win to Meehan -- one of them curiously scored it 99-91 in Meehan's favour, which seemed rather lopsided. The other scores were 98-92 and 97-93.
Cameron's left eye was swollen and discoloured, while a cut above that eye was opened by Meehan in the fifth round and proved a popular target for the 44-year-old who moved to 42-5 with his victory.
Cameron, 37, will now dedicate more time to his family and North Shore gym, although he said he would remain in the fight game as a promoter.
"There'll be no more black eyes or cuts for me," he said. "I think New Zealand has had a fair share of seeing me getting cut. I'm one of the ones who gets cut on the scales weighing in."
Joking aside, Cameron did more than his fair share for the sport in New Zealand and he made a point of fighting in front of local fans as live boxing has enjoyed a revival here during the past decade.
"People criticised me for fighting in New Zealand and we did road trips around New Zealand just so people could actually get a glimpse of professional boxing in New Zealand and look at it now, it's massive."
Cameron's 29-5 record doesn't feature a hall of fame list of opponents but he won his share of regional titles, while his fourth round knockout of Monte Barrett in 2012 came via one of the sweetest right hands ever thrown by a Kiwi.
The summary of his career wouldn't be complete without noting his part in the biggest selling fight held in New Zealand when a motivated David Tua stopped him inside two rounds in 2009.
But he was a classy competitor who will now pass the baton to the likes of Joseph Parker to carry on this country's contribution to the sport.
In the co-main event on Saturday night, Kiwi cruiserweight David Aloua (11-2) was upset by Australian Anthony McCracken (17-7-1) via seventh round TKO. It was only the second loss of Aloua's career.
Australian Brad Pitt (18-1) lived up to his favouritism as he won the cruiserweight Super 8 last-man-standing tournament with a close majority decision victory over the previously unbeaten Vaitele Soi (24-1) in the final.
In the opening bout of the night, Meehan's 19-year-old son Willis made a successful professional boxing debut by topping the durable Will Quarrie (5-3) by unanimous decision.
- By Daniel Richardson of NZME
