People can do more than they ever believe they can do. Physically mentally academically. You have to be pushed. It hurts. But it's worth it and it's a great thing.
You don't appreciate things until they're gone. For me I miss my friends; I don't miss boxing I miss the camaraderie.
My very best memory of Montreal was the moment inside the Olympic arena when I was waiting under the stadium and those majestic gates opened up. It was a whole other world.
Success is attaining your dream while helping others to benefit from that dream materializing.
You get these moments in the ring that live forever. That's what Muhammad Ali accomplished and I hope that I have too.
Although it was a great accomplishment to win a gold medal as soon as they put it on you that's it; your career is over.
People try to live vicariously through fighters but it's one-on-one; it's primal. There's no other feeling like it. The problem for me was accepting it - that nothing compares to being champ.
I think an athlete should be honest. I know it's difficult but if a guy knocked me on my can I couldn't very well say I slipped.
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.
It's hard to talk about yourself
Boxing brings out my aggressive instinct not necessarily a killer instinct.
I'm a free agent. I haven't allowed any promoters to have exclusive options on my fight. I don't need a promoter.
In Italy I had an Afro and a lot of the kids came up and felt my hair. It really was funny. I wish I had understood Italian
I've always believed that you can be whatever you want to be if you are willing to sacrifice and dedicate yourself.
I always expect unexpected challenges.
Before the start of the '76 Olympics I'd had 160 amateur fights. I won 155 and lost five
I lay around and wonder why you were always there for me.
Before I fight I always pray that no one gets hurt.
My ambition is not to be just a good fighter. I want to be great something special.
Except for Ali fighters had never been marketable
Ali's belief in himself was something I picked up on and it's become my own philosophy
When I turned pro Muhammad Ali was laying back and I was able to fill up an area that was empty.
I watched Muhammad Ali how when he would speak how it was such a thing of beauty. It sounded so wonderful. And I wanted to be like him.
Holyfield is nothing but class and I think he's a breath of fresh air for the sport.
Joe Frazier was the epitome of a champion. I mean here is a guy who was total old school blue collar who would fight anybody. You know he didn't tell you he was the best fighter pound for pound.
I don't hold any regrets whatsoever about my life besides hurting people I loved.
Inactivity is the biggest sin in boxing.
To be the best you need to spend hours and hours and hours running hitting the speed bag lifting weights and focusing on training.
To be the best you need to spend hours and hours and hours running hitting the speed bag lifting weights and just focusing on training.
Bruce Lee was an artist and like him I try to go beyond the fundamentals of my sport. I want the public to see a knockout in the making.
I wanted to be like Bruce Jenner.
I made mistakes but I'm luckier than most. I've got a successful business lots of fans who think a lot of me and a family who loves me.
It's different when you become a professional because you also have to become a businessman and that takes something away from it
Boxing was the only career where I wouldn't have to start out at the bottom. I had a good resume.
I think I've become one of the best finishers in boxing; if I hurt a guy I normally take him out.
For the most part I think video games do a good job of capturing the essence of boxing. However I'd like to continue to see them push the realism emphasizing the skill involved.
I tried the gloves on and it just felt so natural. From that moment I became so embedded in boxing. I found a friend in boxing.
Boxing was not something I truly enjoyed. Like a lot of things in life when you put the gloves on it's better to give than to receive.
Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There's nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring.
Boxing is a sport but it's also entertainment. I wanted to transcend the sport and be considered just not as a fighter or a champion but someone very special.
Boxing's a poor man's sport. We can't afford to play golf or tennis. It is what it is. It's kept so many kids off the street. It kept me off the street
I was painfully initiated into boxing because the guys I fought were a lot bigger than me.
You don't play boxing. You really don't. You play golf you play tennis but you don't play boxing.
When you're a boxer there is a lot of downtime and long periods of inactivity.
I asked my kids 'Do you know what Papa used to do.' They said 'You were a boxer you won the Olympics!' And that's what they know.
I fought tall fighters short fighters strong fighters slow fighters sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.
I've done a lot of things in my life that I'm not proud of.
The only way for a fighter to get back in shape is to fight his way back.
A fighter never knows when it's the last bell. He doesn't want to face that.
Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.
I'm a competitor and a very proud man. If a guy beats me once he'll have to do it again to make me believe him.
We're all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people.
Were all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people.
I consider myself blessed. I consider you blessed. We've all been blessed with God-given talents. Mine just happens to be beating people up.
The thing about boxers is that there's respect there. You beat me and I may not like it but you know what deep down inside I respect you. And that's the code of honor.
No one but myself thought I could beat guys like Tommy Hearns or Roberto Duran.
I enjoy the school run and being a dad. Boxing will always be with me. I like that.
I want my fights to be seen as plays that have a beginning a middle and an end.
I wouldnt change anything because the mistakes and the hurt are as important as all the great fights. They made me who I am today.
I wouldn't change anything because the mistakes and the hurt are as important as all the great fights. They made me who I am today.
Normally I would run with a group of guys in my camps. A couple of days before the fight I would run by myself. That was my time to choreograph the fight in my head so I needed to be myself.
I was not from a middle-class family at all. I did not have middle-class possessions and what have you. But I had middle-class parents who gave me what was needed to survive in society.
I had a drug problem. I'd go to parties take a leak and there was cocaine right there. I was 25 when it started rich famous and retired.
While each of us faces enormous challenges every day it's not the sins we commit that will define us its how we respond to them.
When the trainer talks to the fighter there's a connection. You don't always have to say much.
I've never believed in tying myself up in a long-range contract and I've been very outspoken on that subject.
I've always been quiet and kind of shy. I'm sociable but I would probably migrate to a corner.
My toughest fight was myself. For me to disclose and let things out was not easy because we don't want to seem weak or like we are different but I learned that it's okay.
Duran always disturbs me. The guy is just weird. Before our first fight both Duran and his wife gave my wife the finger.
I run with music all the time. I cannot run without my iPod. I have everything. Teddy Pendergrass. Luther Van Dross. Michael Jackson. Outkast. If an Usher song comes on and it's fast I go fast.
If I hadn't had the talent the networks wouldn't have televised my fights. No one has made me; I made myself. I paid my dues.
When we got back to the U.S. I wanted to kiss the ground after seeing what people in other countries are denied or don't have.
Tommy Hearns seemed like an indestructible machine so to beat him I think that was my defining moment the pinnacle.
I always designed my robes and how I would present myself at every fight.
I came from nothing and achieved humungous fame and fortune. But I worked hard. I had discipline and determination. I had that ice in me.
I remember all the important fights. Vividly. In detail.
You just don't heal that easy unless you're young
Generally the more weight you put on the less effective you are
Look at football where you still have injuries no matter how much they improve the helmets and other equipment.
We're all endowed with God-given talents. Mine happens to be hitting people in the head.
The Ricky Hatton that beat Kostya Tszyu in 2005 can beat Floyd Mayweather he was so focused and in such amazing physical shape that he would have given anybody at that level a tough time.
Spread your love and fly.
They say that I'm stubborn and my wife says that too but it's paid off so far.
Sugar Ray Robinson was probably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.
Everything you want to know about a fighter is in his eyes. The look in his eyes tells the truth.
I enjoyed [Celebrity Ghost Stories]. I never thought in a million years that I would tell people that I saw a ghost. And I've seen a lot of ghosts.
Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire and he will. For health reasons.
My intention was to fight Durán ASAP because I knew Durán's habits. I knew he would indulge himself he'd gain 40"?50 lbs and then sweat it off to make 147.
I went through real darkness but the ring was my light. That was the one place I felt safe. I could control what happened in the ring. My heart turned icy.
You have to know you can win. You have to think you can win. You have to feel you can win.
I'm not religious but I believe that what I have is a gift and I respect it and live up to it.
When I'm not in training. I'll walk around the streets at 153 but it's not solid; it's my socializing weight.
To be honest I don't know. I started one [book] back in 1982 or '83 when I first retired. But I was only 25 or 26 and not ready to write my memoirs.
I'll think If this is his first punch how are the others gonna feel? That's the only fear I have for myself
I want to be great something special.