I don't fear Holmes, but I think he's a good fighter. He has a lot of pride. But I wouldn't be fighting him if I feared him. It's going to be a tough fight. People say with all the hoopla out there, I won't be able to handle it. I believe the pressure's on him. I'm just going to do my thing.
In '82, I was a little too young, I was a little inexperienced, and I was more concerned with going the distance in the fight than going out and taking Holmes out.
For every athlete, the roar of the crowd goes away, and we have to learn how to turn the page.
If I keep thinking about yesterday, tomorrow might never come.
Joe DeGuardia, I love that guy. He's not a superstar promoter yet, but he will be. He was a fighter himself; he's staying the course with these guys. He's developing some good fighters out there. I really applaud him whenever I get a chance to.
When somebody used to compliment me, I'd spend 10 minutes trying to talk them out of it.
Looking back, I couldn't get enough fights because Don King owned most of the top 10 fighters, and he never gave me a fight.
My career got sidetracked after fighting Holmes.
We try to tell these guys that the end of a boxing career isn't the end of their lives: it's the beginning of a new one.
I've had a long, long road with lots of ups and downs. But that's all behind me now.
When you bottom out, you have to stand up and get going again.
I believe in myself. I want to be a fighter. I want to be heavyweight champion of the world.
Growing up training, I use to get up so early I would wave to the garbage men going by. So, I had this relationship with Blue Collar America and I really liked it. I felt that lots of those people looked forward to me winning.
I'm one crazy, crazy guy.
You go through pain. You feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable, uncomfortable until you change. I acquired a different outlook.
Roberto Duran was the kind of guy who was a true fighter and you hardly see guys like that anymore.
When we first started in Huntington Recreation with John Capobianco, we put four kids in the Golden Gloves finals. We didn't even have a ring. We trained at Stimson Junior High School. They give us the gym three nights a week. We used to box in the gym - no ring, just on the gym floor.
My father never once told me he loved me. I told him I loved him only one time - that was when he was sick. It was hard, the way he showed his love. I didn't understand what he was trying to teach me. Now I know, but it came too late for him to see it. After he was gone, I realized he was trying to strengthen my mind to make me better.
I spent a lot of time dwelling on yesterday, and it did me no good.
You have a small period of time when you can perfect your career and become good at it. A lot of guys get distracted, which only hurts them. You must stay focused and work very hard at boxing.
All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none. So when the fighter is through, he is through. While he was fighting his management was very excited for him, but now that he is done, that management team is moving on.
About 99 percent of fighters end up broke. F.I.S.T. helps them turn the page and find new goals.
I'm a happy guy. I just want to see people laugh and smile.
Sometimes you get so frustrated that things aren't working out, you say, 'Let me step away for a while.' But the fire still burns.
My father was one tough man.
I think I make people laugh, and that's good in life.
I retired when I was 30, with all my marbles and a few bucks. But a lot of guys leave boxing penniless with no skills. Men in their 30s and early 40s, old for boxing, young in life, but also old in the job market if you're just getting started with no education. These guys need someone in their corner.
You take that walk from the dressing room to the ring and that's when the real man comes out. Then you climb up those four stairs and into the ring. Then finally, you can't wait for the bell to ring.
Muhammad Ali was the kind of guy you either loved or hated, but you wanted to see him. I happen to really love him. He brought boxing to another level and always made you laugh.
I was lucky. I held on to some of my money. I didn't really know what I wanted to do after boxing. But I found what I wanted to do.
Too many guys don't know what to do with their lives after boxing. I was lucky because I had two managers who didn't trust each other, and so they were always making sure where all the money was, and because of that, so did I.
Long Island has a great boxing tradition.
The Klitschko boys, they're great fighters, but they're just boring here in America.
When I fought Holmes, I feel I was a better fighter than he was. I was just so caught up in what was written about the fight - I got caught up in that whole thing.
When I hurt Norton, I got scared. I looked to the referee. But in the same sense, you're a fighter: you gotta have the killer instinct.
When I was 15, I decided to take up the sport seriously, so I went down to the Y.M.C.A. My first day there, this little Italian guy beat my brains out. I decided to quit. Then I realized I really wanted to be a fighter. I worked at it, went back, and that little Italian guy didn't beat me up no more.
I have this want-to-be-liked thing, but deep down, I had this rage. I was just - I was blinded. I wasn't healthy enough to be able to learn more. I had one mode - to fight.
I know I can fight; that's the only thing that matters to me.
I grew up in a household where I learned five things from my old man. You know what they were? You're no good. You're a failure. You're not going to amount to anything. Don't trust nobody, and don't tell nobody your business. When I lost to Larry Holmes in 1982, I felt all five of those things smacked me right across the face.
You gotta appreciate every day!
What hurt most were the people who came up to me and said they lost $1,000 on me. It just makes you mad.
The road hasn't always been paved for me. People identify with that. Everybody passes through hard times, and I think that's part of my appeal - that I have, too.
I always felt I was wounded. That I was no good, a piece of crap, and that I wouldn't amount to anything, because that's what my father always told me. I just felt like I didn't belong anywhere.
It's tough waking up in the morning and reading derogatory stories about you.
I really don't care who I fight.
I had personal problems. I was spending 50% of my life on my family, 50% on boxing. Neither was getting anywhere. It was killing me. So I had to break away from fighting.
They said if I'd fight a ranked contender, I'd get a title shot. I did that, and the next day they changed the rules.
It's great playing a sport where you don't get hit in the head.
If my son wants a boxing career, I won't stop him, but I definitely won't push him. It's bad for a kid to be pressured.
