The fighter was taking on Anthony Holmes of Yorkshire in Newcastle in the Bareknuckle Fighting Championship.
Hendry billed it as “the biggest fight of my life” as two unbeaten world champions went head to head for the right to call themselves the number one cruiserweight bareknuckle fighter on the planet.
But after an encouraging start Hendry was caught with a punch to the face – and he had to retire.
“Anthony was an undefeated bareknuckle boxer, like me, and had won a world title in another promotion,” said Hendry.
“This fight was to discover who was the number one – someone’s record had to go and unfortunately it had to be mine.
“It was a cagey fight – we both had a lot of respect for one another and not too many clean shots were landed.
“The statistics said I won the first two rounds, the third was quite even and in the fourth I got caught with a shot on the nose.
“I had gone into the fight with a broken nose – it was broken while I was sparring about five weeks ago but there was no way I was going to pull out of the fight.
“Unfortunately Anthony caught me right on the nose and I just couldn’t see anything.
“I took a knee after the punch to regain my senses and got up before the ten count, but when I stood up I couldn’t see anything – everything went black.
“I went back down again and the referee called it off.
“It was disappointing, yes, and if I had lost my record to just any fighter it would have been disheartening. But I lost to the best fighter on the planet at my weight – and the fact I was doing so well at the time makes it bearable.
“There will be other opportunities. I’m fighting again on February 25 at Crystal Palace but I don’t think I’ll be fighting Anthony again. He is dropping down a weight now and I’m looking forward to getting back into the ring and returning to my winning ways.
“With Anthony dropping out it may be the cruiserweight title will be back up for grabs again, and if so I’d be interested in that.
“I’m 33 now and just coming into my prime. Years ago boxers at 30 were seen as washed up but now, with nutrition and technology, cruiserweights and heavyweights are going on well into their 40s.
“There are not many young men in bareknuckle boxing. The prime for us is 34 or 35.
“And the UK is the place to be – our championships are the biggest in the world.
“Bareknuckle fighting is becoming mainstream. A few years ago it was just something for gypsies and gangsters but it was been a professional sport now for seven or eight years and it’s growing very quickly.
“It’s placed between cage fighting and boxing. Lots of people don’t want to see fighters rolling about on the ground in cage fighting and glove boxing can become a bit boring and tedious, and they want something in between.
“It’s already televised but not yet on the mainstream channels.”