Enzo Calzaghe, father of boxer, Joe Calzaghe, and legendary trainer in his own right, has spoken about the prospect of retirement. His son is scheduled to fight Roy Jones Jr. in New York and is then set to quit the sport and now, Enzo Calzaghe has revealed that he may join him in retirement.

Furthermore, to the shock of boxing fans across the world, the coach has announced that he may shut down his world-famous gymnasium after stating that he has “fallen out of love with boxing”.

Calzaghe believes that boxing is becoming too political and his passion for the sport has been tainted by his son’s legal fight with Sports Network, Frank Warren’s firm. Warren used to be Joe Calzaghe’s promoter but the pair ended their association, which had lasted for 12 years, after the boxer decided to start self-promoting.

Warren’s firm are claiming that the boxer broke a verbal contract concerning the promotion of subsequent fights. Calzaghe denies this claim and also believes that he is owed over £2 million by Sports Network.

This legal battle has not just had a direct impact upon Joe Calzaghe but has also affected the careers of others, including his father, who believes that other boxers are being dragged into the unpleasant affair.

Nathan Cleverly is one such example. The new Commonwealth light-heavyweight title holder was forced to leave Enzo Calzaghe’s club last month after fearing that his career may be adversely affected by the legal situation. Other boxers who are usually trained by Calzaghe include Gavin Rees, Bradley Pryce, and Enzo Maccarinelli.

Rees, Pryce, and Maccarinelli have all spoken about the possibility of leaving the famous gymnasium for the same reason as Cleverly. Enzo Calzaghe, who has won the BBC Sports Personality award and has previously been named the Ring Magazine Coach of the Year, has been involved with the training of Rees and Pryce since they were just nine years of age and the prospect of their disloyalty has deeply saddened the coach. The situation has been made all the more tense as Sports Network promote all three boxers.

The legal battle between Joe Calzaghe and Sports Network is focussed partly upon his match against Bernard Hopkins in April. The Welsh boxer was victorious in this match, although the circumstances were somewhat controversial, and Hopkins has asked for a rematch following recent success in America.

However, Calzaghe has angrily rejected Hopkins’ call for another fight: “screw Hopkins, I’m not fighting again for any amount of money, I’ve been doing this for too long”.

Joe Calzaghe maintains that the fight against Roy Jones Jr. will be his last and the boxing world will certainly feel the loss of the famous Calzaghe father and son partnership.

The closure of Enzo Calzaghe’s gymnasium will also impact negatively upon the sport. The fight club has been compared to the famous Kronk gymnasium in Detroit, owned by Emanuel Steward. Boxers such as Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis trained there, so such a comparison is a great honour for Calzaghe.