AUBURN – Less than a year after he retired from the ring, former WBA lightweight and junior lightweight boxing champ Joey Gamache is preparing for battle in a courtroom.

The 34-year-old Lewiston native is suing Kingfield Savings Bank and one of its loan officers, claiming they maliciously withdrew a commitment to lend him $285,000. As a result, Gamache said, he was forced to abandon his plan to convert the old Lewiston Elks Lodge into a first-class restaurant called The Final Round.

Gamache, who is seeking $5 million in damages, said the ill-fated venture cost him his life savings.

“I risked everything that I had just to have a chance,” Gamache said. “I’m a guy who has worked hard all of his life. This was my dream, and it was killed without a conscience.”