2026-04-25 11:33:49
Joe Calzaghe “lost [his] identity” when he retired.
The 54-year-old sportsman hung up his gloves 16 years ago but it took a long time for him to adjust to life without his beloved sport.
He told Men’s Health magazine: “I retired 16 years ago and it took quite a few years.
“And then it hits you, ‘F***, what do I do?’
“You lose the boxing side, the training, getting up in the morning, that focus, that discipline. That’s gone.
“I just got f****** lost. I probably lost my identity. Who am I now?
“I’m the fighter and I was just trying to adapt to life.
“When that’s gone, I just had free rein and it all crept up on me.
“We were all champions in the ring, but the toughest battle is outside the ring.
“It’s a lonely sport, but I used to love fighting. That was my identity.”
Joe was a natural introvert who was bullied at school, but he thrived in the boxing ring.
He said: “In the boxing ring, I would be a completely different person.
“So, when I finished boxing, I had to go back to just being Joe.”
Joe has previously insisted he was never interested in making a comeback.
Asked the closest he’s come to returning, he told Boxing News: “I’ve never been close. The closes I’ve come is I go to the gym, I train for a couple of weeks, lose a bit of weight, and my hands would be f***** and my back and I’m thinking, ‘Mate, come on, you’re too old for this.’
“This run I used to do – where I lived was my camp; there’s hills everywhere; fresh air – I’d be halfway up and I’d be like, ‘F***, I can’t do this any more?”
And Joe has never had a reason to return to his unbeaten career.
He added: “To come back, what would I have to prove?
“You’re always going to get fighters come through.
“It’s a big deal to make money, but legacy was always my number one…
“People still talking is a great thing. That’s the one thing that mattered to me when I was boxing – legacy. Probably more than fame and money.”
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