Now the 33-year-old Welshman – who was forced to jab his way to a 17th successful defence of his WBO title – is set to be sidelined until at least February, with no guarantee of a re-scheduled date with Lacy.

Lacy’s promoter Gary Shaw, who had previously criticised Calzaghe for taking the fight against Ashira in the first place, said: “Tell Frank Warren that he and Joe Calzaghe don’t rule the 12-stone division any more.

“If he (Warren) is actually serious about February then he should bring Calzaghe to the United States because that is the only way he will ever see Jeff Lacy again.

“I have absolutely no interest in wasting my time with Joe Calzaghe any more,” Shaw told www.secondsout.com.

But a furious Warren insisted Calzaghe had every right to fight Ashira with Lacy himself having delayed the fight in the first place by insisting on his own warm-up against Manchester’s Robin Reid last month.

Warren refuted suggestions that Calzaghe’s match on Saturday night was a gamble which was always likely to back-fire given his fighter’s previous propensity for picking up hand injuries.

Warren wasted no time responding angrily to Shaw’s statement, insisting: “We wanted to make the Lacy fight early but they insisted he wasn’t ready and he would fight Reid first.

“Joe could not afford to sit and wait, he needed some rounds and what happened is just unfortunate.

"No-one is more important than Joe.

“Gary Shaw and Jeff Lacy are off their heads if they think Lacy is number one in the division right now.

“Joe is the longest reigning of all the world champions and if Jeff Lacy still wants the fight in February then it will be on the terms we have previously agreed.”

The two promoters’ deteriorating relationship puts even a new year meeting in major doubt, with Warren already believed to be considering some alternative options.

Calzaghe, who was expecting to learn the extent of his injury following X-rays today, said: “I was catching him for two or three rounds with uppercuts before I felt my hand start to go.

“It’s probably the worst I’ve ever done it and it is even worse than the Reid fight for the pain.

“It’s frustrating because I wanted to make a statement and I am sure I would have knocked him out by the fifth round.

“I still think the Lacy fight will happen because we are the best two super-middleweights in the world and Lacy has nowhere else to go.

“But I have no regrets about taking this fight because at the end of the day I needed to fight so why should I just wait for him?”

What was especially galling for Calzaghe was his latest injury setback coinciding with his much-trumpeted return to terrestrial television.

It is a platform upon which Calzaghe could realistically expect to acquire a profile to match some of the great British super-middleweights of the past - provided he stays injury-free and gets those super-fights.

His unsatisfactory night against Ashira had begun so well as Calzaghe roared from his corner and pushed his 5ft 7ins opponent back with a series of clubbing left-hands.

The Kenyan was being supported by his promoter Don King at ringside but offered little to suggest he could stretch the champion, having campaigned entirely at a lower weight and been stopped in two rounds by Maselino Masoe last year.

Ashira hustled and harried up close but was clearly no match for a focused Calzaghe, who had returned to form in his only previous fight this year when he dispatched Mario Veit in six rounds in Germany in May.

A short right hand wobbled Ashira towards the end of the first round and a bad cut around the challenger’s left eye also at one stage threatened to cut the contest short.

But ultimately Calzaghe was forced to jab and move his way towards a shutout 120-108 (twice), 120-107 success in a contest which quietened his normally raucous home fans as it ticked over into the early hours.

Now it remains to be seen whether Calzaghe will get that defining fight he craves, or whether 2006 will prove just as frustrating as his year, which ended abruptly on Saturday night.