Anthony Mundine's boxing career has hit the end of the road, after the former WBA super middleweight champion lost in a shocker to John Wayne Parr in Brisbane.

Judges scored the fight 95-94 for Mundine, and 96-93 and 95-93 in favor of the Muay Thai legend who was fighting in a boxing ring for the first time in 16 years.

Mundine was knocked down in the fourth round of the middleweight contest but survived a standing eight count before being docked a point in the eighth for hitting Parr in the back of the head.

Although he edged the final round, two of the judges gave the decision to Parr whose last fight was against Sakio Bika in 2003.

The defeat takes Mundine's record to 48-10 and at 44 years of age, with four of those losses coming in his last five fights.

Mundine's last fight took place exactly a year ago, and he was knocked out in one round by Jeff Horn.

He retired in the aftermath of that contest, but then later announced that he was going to continue fighting.

The former NRL star will be under pressure to walk away from a sport that saw him first enter the ring 19 years ago following a successful rugby league career.

Mundine enjoyed several high points, included victories over American Antwun Echols to win the vacant super middleweight title in 2003 before embarking on a bitter rivalry with Danny Green.

The pair faced off in a memorable event at the Sydney Football Stadium in front of 37,000 fans in what is regarded as the biggest fight on Australian soil.