• Boxing

Calzaghe confirms he will not return to boxing

ESPN staff
June 3, 2010
Joe Calzaghe's future does not involve a ring return © Getty Images
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Joe Calzaghe has ruled out making a comeback to the ring - but he concedes that he did consider the prospect when it was put to him by Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer.

The Welshman retired from boxing in February 2009 with an undefeated record, having dominated the super-middleweight division for over a decade.

Persistent rumours hinted that he would scrap his retirement in order to face off against Bernard Hopkins, who he beat in his penultimate bout - but Calzaghe has scuppered these suggestions.

"There's no truth that I'm coming back," Calzaghe said. "A lot of boxers come back from retirement but when I retired from boxing, I said I intended to retire and nothing has changed from that.

"Richard [Schaefer] and I spoke about it a few months ago when I was in LA with my girlfriend. I said 'possibly' and I went away to have some some time to think about it, whether I wanted to do it, who the potential opponents could be. But I went to the gym a couple of times and I realised that I didn't want to.

"I have come out of my career relatively unmarked and I have ended undefeated world champion so it's a blessing that I can end my career like that really and I don't want to push it and get greedy and fall back into that temptation that you would always regret for the rest of your life."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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