CARL FROCH insists he wishes Joe Calzaghe well in his retirement as the Nottingham fighter prepares to get the new Super Six World Boxing Classic under way in his home town against American Andre Dirrell.

Froch, the WBC super-middleweight champion, takes on Dirrell at the Trent FM Arena on October 17 in the new tournament’s opening round of bouts.

It will be Froch’s first fight since his dramatic title defence against Jermain Taylor in Mashantucket in April.

Since then the 32-year-old, whose record currently stands at 25-0 (20 KOs), has failed to coax the retired Calzaghe back into the ring for an undefeated, all- British super fight.

But Froch now admits he has given up on trying to orchestrate a fight with Calzaghe, advising the Welshman to concentrate on his dance moves for Strictly Come Dancing while he focuses on winning a competition that will provide his next five bouts should he make it to the final.

‘‘He (Calzaghe) is finished and he needs to stay retired, he’s been out for too long now,’’ Froch said.

‘‘He’s probably walking around at 14 and a half stone, drinking and eating properly and he’s got a family. I want him to enjoy his retirement, good luck to him. He had a fabulous career and I have a lot of respect for him.

‘‘I’m not going to give him any stick or try and lure him out of retirement because I don’t think it would be the right thing for him to do.

‘‘As the proud warrior that he is and a strong, determined man retiring undefeated, I’m going to give the man the respect he deserves.

But he needs to loosen up a bit on Strictly Come Dancing!’’ Another champion putting their belt on the line during the Super Six is WBA world titleholder Mikkel Kessler, upon whom Calzaghe inflicted the only defeat of the Dane’s 42-fight career.

Froch, who has been pencilled in to fight Kessler in Copenhagen early next year, admitted that to follow in Calzaghe’s footsteps would be to make a significant statement about his own status among Britain’s great boxers, but insisted he has nothing to prove.

‘‘Mikkel Kessler is a good fighter and undefeated other than the Calzaghe loss,’’ Froch said.

‘‘He has won over 40 fights and he has won in style – he is a strong, dominant super-middleweight and he means business.

To fight him – well, I would be a very proud man to beat him.

It would be magnificent.

‘‘Joe Calzaghe beat him on points over 12 rounds and if I can do a better job than that it will go a long way to showing where I am.

‘‘But I think people already know. I beat (Jean) Pascal (to win the WBC title) and he has since gone on to win the world title at light-heavyweight so people know he can fight.

‘‘The Taylor win has cemented my status as a world class boxer, so I’ve got nothing to prove to anybody and I am in no way trying to emulate what Joe Calzaghe has done.

‘‘He’s happily retired and good luck to the bloke. He had a fantastic career, it’s a shame we didn’t get a fight on for the fans and for ourselves but it wasn’t meant to be.’’ A rematch with Taylor could also be in the pipeline for Froch should he progress in the roundrobin competition, which also features Americans Andre Ward and Arthur Abraham.