Joe Calzaghe Confesses That Boxing Was His ‘Escapism’

Talking to another HOF fighter, Andre Ward, on All the Smoke Fight, Calzaghe went on an immersive personal journey traversing through his beginnings to the world of boxing. In conversation, he was asked if it was challenging to have a normal childhood when he was different from his cohorts.

“It was tough you know. I’ll be honest with you, if I look back, I went to this school, and it was outside, sort of the area. My mom thought this school will be a better school. And I struggled man; I was getting bullied. I was getting name calling, bullied; I was different,” he said. “It’s crazy, like boxing for me was my escapism.”

Calzaghe admitted that he felt a lot of self-worth when he was in the boxing ring. He also touched on the dichotomy of the situation, where he was successfully beating up people inside the ring, but at school, he avoided classes because he was sensitive. While he believes these experiences prepared him to face the “bullies” in the professional boxing ring, he undoubtedly had to pay a heavy price.

“You basically give up your childhood. My childhood was training; my childhood was fighting for titles,” he said. “I was so driven; I didn’t turn up for half of my exams because I was in the national championships.”

“We Were A Team”

Calzaghe’s father, Enzo Calzaghe, has been his biggest supporter since the inception of his boxing journey. In the same interview, he acknowledged his father’s dedication to his career and how his retirement affected him.

“In hindsight, me retiring was harder on Dad than it was on me. I never really took into it how my retirement would impact my dad at that time. It was all about me, but that journey was with my father. We were a team, so everything,” he said. “I never thought he’d miss as much as he did, and he did.”