Olympic bronze medal winner Paddy Barnes is going to push forward with his pro career in the flyweight division.

Last month, Barnes was talking retirement after suffering an shocking upset loss to Oscar Mojica by way of split decision at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The loss was Barnes' second consecutive defeat since turning professional in 2016.

In the aftermath of that loss, Barnes told reporters that he was walking away from the sport.

"I will probably retire now. I don't think there is any point boxing on after a defeat like that," Barnes said.

"The fans were great but at the end of the day I have to take care of my health. If I am going to box like that, then what's the point boxing anymore? I can't contest for a world title with that performance."

But after he had some time to reflect on matters, the 31-year-old Barnes is going to give his career another go.

"I was retiring after that fight. I really was considering retirement," Barnes told BBC.

"I've tried to fast-track myself. I've only had seven fights and my record is five (wins) and two (losses) but I haven't fought seven journeymen, I've fought a world champion, ex-European champions and people who had fought for world titles. Going forward I probably need to rein it in a bit and give myself a six-fight plan and not be the fastest world champion but just go as far as I can.

"I've had time to think about what happened (against Mojica). I took that fight because of the stage it was on, I took the fight at bantamweight and he was much bigger and stronger than me. I still want to fight again (but) going forward I'll be fighting at flyweight.

"The transition (from amateur to professional) was tougher than I thought. In my third fight I fought for the European (title), fifth the intercontinental. No one does that. If its going to happen it will be a bit longer but the passion is still there. Even in my last fight fighting against a guy much bigger and stronger than me."