Nelson elaborated on the severe post-career financial strain faced by former household names.
"The amount of household names I could tell you that are absolutely on their ass, they've got nothing, and that financial pressure on top of the other effects of boxing has accumulated over the years.
How can your mental health be stable? How can it be?"
Nelson said.
He described the isolation inherent in a fighter's daily existence during and after their career.
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"That animalistic instinct we have, there's nothing you can adapt it to in everyday life - not an office or anything like that, because it's barbaric," Nelson said.
He detailed the personal disconnection fighters feel from those closest to them.
"It's a very lonely existence. Your wife, brother, mother, sister don't get it.
The aches and pains are lonely, the thought processes are lonely," Nelson said.
Nelson explained the progression from passion to financial necessity that dominates a boxer's career choices.
"You do it first for the love of it, then money comes into it, then ups and downs, so we still do it - but resentfully.
You've not got time to have a full-time job, so [you may think]: 'People see me on a dizzy high, and then I've got to go and work on a building site.
God, I've got to deal with the shame of that,'" Nelson said.
He concluded by noting the painful shift in public perception after retirement.
