AFTER 40 pro fights enough was enough for Scott Quigg. He’d done more than he’d set out to achieve in boxing and after losing to Jono Carrol in March he called it a day.

He’s been keeping in shape at home, but he will probably head to the USA in the future, possibly to work as a trainer alongside former coach Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

Quigg, from Bury, retired with a 35-3-2 record and fought the likes of Oscar Valdez, Carl Frampton, Rendall Munroe, Kiko Martinez and Yoandris Salinas.

“I’ve enjoyed my career and even with the losses I wouldn’t change anything,” Quigg said to BoxingScene.com. “If someone said I could do the same path again, I would. I’ve enjoyed it all. I would not have achieved half of what I achieved if it wasn’t for the start I had with Brian Hughes. I mean that. The way he taught me, the way he educated me how to absorb information and how to watch videos and methods to put into practice… He wasn’t just in the gym, he was a teacher, he taught me how to be in life as well. I’m fortunate I have the mum and dad I do, but he taught me, gave me advice, he was on the phone all the time, he’d give me tip after tip and if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have achieved half of what I did.”

The education under Brian Hughes was followed by spells under the tutelage of Ricky Hatton, Joe Gallagher and then Roach.

“I’m very fortunate to have had Brian, Ricky, Joe and Freddie,” added Quigg. “Some people might be more well-known than Brian Hughes because of who’s around now and social media but Brian Hughes is the best coach I’ve trained with. He was a teacher, and to have that foundation built from him… that when I went to Ricky and Joe, everyone could build because the foundation was so solid you could keep building as high as you want. If I had not those foundations built by Brian you get to a certain point and it starts getting shaky so you can’t build any more. Before you know it, it all comes crashing down.”

Quigg was a disciplinarian. He trained hard and was renowned for the monk-like solitude he endured.

He made sacrifices.

“I’d love to get into coaching and training fighters, I know how hard the game is,” he said. “And if you’re going to play at it you might as well go and get a job as there are much easier ways to earn a living. I’m fortunate that I made it to the top and financially secured myself.

“There’s very few people that when they retire they don’t have to work again and it’s too dangerous a sport to play at it and if you don’t reach the top or around that level you’re not going to secure yourself and you’re going to have to get a job when you finish and you’re better off starting off your career in something else. I was very fortunate my mum and dad backed me to give me the best chance I could to become something. I would love to train fighters, not even for the money side, I’d like to actually give back and helping people achieve would be a passion. The way I lived, people wouldn’t enjoy life the way I lived. It’s had a massive effect on relationships, family and things like that and when you look back you think, ‘Was it all worth it for that?’ And you think at the end of the day, now I’ve retired, what’s been and gone actually doesn’t matter. I’m thankful I’m financially secure, I was successful and I enjoyed it. I would do the same journey with the same results because I enjoyed it because that’s the person I am and I look in the mirror content.”

Quigg talks about financial security, but that’s because he’s savvy. That modest lifestyle has continued into retirement. He’s never been one for glitz and glamour, so rows of designer suits and a garage of Lamborghinis would not be high on his shopping list. But, for a smart investor and someone who’s rightfully proud of his career he’s found a level of contentment that fighters find it hard to locate when they hang the gloves up.

“I don’t live an expensive lifestyle,” he went on. “I know the value of a penny and that’s only because I saw how hard my mum and dad worked when I was younger and I saw their work ethic to provide for me, my brother and my sister. I knew from a young age and seeing what they did for us and I’ve not wasted money. I’ve invested it. The real thing is I’m healthy and that’s the real wealth.”

So have the things he’s been able to experience, travel, titles, friendships.

Once the threat of a global pandemic doesn’t loom quite so large, the journey will continue.

“I still speak to Freddie weekly,” Quigg said. “At the Wild Card I spent time with him in and out of the gym. I’ve been setting a few things up so once this passes I can head out to America and I have a couple of things that I’m trying to sort out there and I’m looking forward to taking another path in boxing and sports.”