Lennox Lewis is expected to announce his retirement from boxing at a London press conference on Friday morning.
The 38-year-old has been out of action since last June's win over Vitali Klitschko in Los Angeles when the Ukrainian was stopped with cuts in the sixth round.
Lewis has kept everyone guessing as to whether he would give Klitschko a rematch as the challenger was ahead on points when the contest was brought to a premature end.
The WBC last week stepped up the pressure on Lewis to make a firm decision on his future by declaring that he had 30 days to agree terms with Klitschko from February 1st or the fight would go out to purse bids on March 15th.
However, it now seems that former Olympic gold medallist Lewis has decided to hang up his gloves after a glorious 44-fight professional career spanning over 14 years.
Trainer Emanuel Steward had on several occasions stated that he would like to see Lewis dish out one final beating to Klitschko before calling it a day.
However, the writing looked on the wall at the weekend when Steward told American TV station HBO: "If you hesitate about making up your mind, that is not good.
"If he feels he can go back to the training it is going to take, and the grind it is going to take, he should do it. If he wants to go back up the mountain for this one final war, yes, but if he doesn't, my suggestion is just to leave and rest on your laurels."
Lewis became a world champion by default in 1997 when Riddick Bowe threw his WBC belt in a dustbin rather than take on the Briton.
However, Lewis went on to prove himself the best heavyweight of his era, becoming undisputed champion when beating Evander Holyfield in 1999 and gaining the career defining win he had always craved against Mike Tyson in 2002.
Two shocking knockout defeats against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman hampered his claim for a place among the all-time greats and a casual demeanour often failed to ignite the excitement needed to capture the public's affection.