Joe Calzaghe has put to bed any talk of a comeback by insisting he does not have the desire to fight any more.
The 38-year-old retired undefeated 15 months ago but admitted to having returned to the gym in recent weeks with a possible rematch with Bernard Hopkins on the table.
Calzaghe revelaed he held talks with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer regarding a ring return.
However, the Welshman, who recently admitted taking cocaine and is reported to be struggling financially, scoffed at suggestions that a comeback was imminent.
“There’s no truth that I’m coming back,” said Calzaghe. “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.
“A lot of boxing fans would want to see me come back but at 38, after 27 years in the sport, being a world champ for 11 years, my time is up. I have no desire to fight, to be honest.
“Richard 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.
“There’s always the chance that some big money will be on offer but you shouldn’t fight for the money. That would be the wrong reason to go back into it.
“We all need the money but I look at my health, my family and my kids, I look in the mirror and think ‘no, I can’t do it.’
“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.”
