IN DAYS of Yore, reknowned old warriors were borne from the field of battle on their shields.

Dale Purdom's exit was an altogether simpler affair, going out with a wink and a knowing grin to his corner. But it was no less a touching departure for a ring warrior.

Few people outside of the close-knit world of Hampshire amateur boxing would have heard of Purdom and his retirement from the fight game would hardly have caused ripples among the moguls of world boxing's alphabetti-spaghetti ruling bodies.

Yet his decision to hang up his gloves at the age of 34 leaves the sport in the county a little bit poorer, and deprives amateur boxing of an ambassador and as good an advert for the game as "Whasssuuuppp" is for Budweiser.

Purdom didn't take up boxing until he was 28, an age at which most amateur boxers have either disappeared into the professional ranks or decided to knock it on the head.

Amateur boxers of 28 are about as common as rocking horse droppings, which made Purdom a collectors' item, if nothing else.

Of all sports, amateur boxing is perhaps the most pure. Its harshest critics lambast it as being worse than professional boxing, a quick trip to the neuro unit without the benefit of getting paid for the privilege.

Yet it's a special type of person who steps into an amateur boxing ring; the type of person who wants to test himself to the max, and also to test the other man in there with him, mano a mano.

Team environments are all very well, and the premise of pulling together, helping each other out and collective responsibility is laudable.

But there's always an opportunity to slacken off inside a team unit, to ease off while letting a colleague pull a bit harder. It's human nature.

It's also human nature - but a more basic one - for some men to want to fight, although that was not Purdom's prime motivation for taking up boxing.

"I really only went along to keep myself fit, to punch a few bags and lift some weights."

But it was when Purdom took the quantum leap of stepping into the ring for sparring that things began to happen.

Purdom was spotted by professional Danny Cooper who encouraged him to take up gloves, and Purdom crossed his private Rubicon.

"I had my first bout a month before I was 29," says Purdom.

So began his relationship with a sport that lasted six years, during which he had to learn his ringcraft quickly to catch up for his late start.

Purdom never entered boxing with an eye to making money, his motives were to enjoy his sport as much as possible within limitations he was always aware of, surely the essence of any amateur sport.

He probably knew from early on that there were never going to be major championship wins for him or trophies dripping from his mantlepiece. But that didn't stop Purdom from putting everything in to a sport that demands everything.

His 23 bouts were fought out in a variety of venues, from smoke-filled social clubs to grand city halls, in front of audiences that ranged from bevvied-up bhoyos to tuxed-up businessmen at dinner shows.

His 13 victories were savoured like nectar and his defeats borne with dignity.

Perhaps it was the added maturity that came with his years, but there were never any tantrums or toy-throwing at decisions that didn't go his way. Purdom was a man who could take his lumps both literally and metaphorically.

"I would never have turned professional. I don't think that professional boxers are looked after very well and really, once money becomes involved with a sport, that's when the problems start.

"No doubt, things would have been completely different, but I have been happy to make boxing my hobby."

There were moments when he reached out for the brass ring, notably at Reading.

"I think it was about my tenth bout and I was in with a lad who had about the same number of bouts.

"We were well matched and I beat him, it was probably the best I have ever boxed and I would say that was probably the highlight of my career."

As highlights go in today's lucre-dominated sporting world, it's as small as a Maglite torch but it doesn't diminish its importance to Purdom.

ABA rules dictated that this would always be Purdom's last season. Southampton Golden Ring's dinner show at Southampton Guldhall is their showcase event of the season and the portents for Purdom weren't good.

He came into his bout with Simon Tobias from Woking on the back of three successive defeats and Tobias was not the ideal opponent for that sort of scenario.

Faster, younger, quicker, Tobias was a handful of trouble Purdom didn't need.

The old ring warrior drew deeply from the well of his experience but the rope wasn't long enough to reach the bucket to the bottom.

The result was never in doubt. At the final bell, Purdom knew it and the wide grin of resignation as he returned to his corner for what proved to be the last time, told coach Stuart Gill all he needed to know.

In an ideal world, Purdom would have gone out on a winning note, but boxers and gamblers share a common denominator when it comes to winning streaks.

Purdom admits: "If I had won I might have been tempted to carry on, but you have to stop eventually and I had lost four on the trot which probably told me something, that age was catching up on me.

At least he went on his terms, and because of that went with his dignity and his looks intact.

It won't mark the end of Dale Purdom's involvement with the sport.

"I'm going to take my boxing coaching qualifications and help with some of the coaching.

"I know it's a bit of a clich but I would like to put something back into the sport.

"I wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending boxing as a sport to youngsters.

"It certainly helps those who stick with it and they can get a lot out of it."