I enjoy the school run and being a dad. Boxing will always be with me. I like that.
Fighters display two things. They display confidence, or they display a look that says, 'I'm not sure.'
I'm a free agent. I haven't allowed any promoters to have exclusive options on my fight. I don't need a promoter.
I don't hold any regrets whatsoever about my life besides hurting people I loved.
You don't appreciate things until they're gone. For me, I miss my friends; I don't miss boxing, I miss the camaraderie.
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.
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.
At 14, I was the most disciplined guy around. I would get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and run five miles, and then go to school. Sometimes I would run behind the school bus, and the kids thought I was just crazy. I knew what I wanted.
Before I fight, I always pray that no one gets hurt.
Boxing brings out my aggressive instinct, not necessarily a killer instinct.
Ali's belief in himself was something I picked up on, and it's become my own philosophy.
I've never believed in tying myself up in a long-range contract, and I've been very outspoken on that subject.
Boxing should focus on pitting champion versus champion - those are the fights that everyone wants to see. The sports also needs to work on developing new heroes and personalities. I'd like to see more vignettes on fighters, focusing on their lives, goals and stories. Boxers need to be larger than life.
Sugar Ray Robinson was probably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.
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.
Holyfield is nothing but class, and I think he's a breath of fresh air for the sport.
You just don't heal that easy unless you're young.
When you're a boxer, there is a lot of downtime and long periods of inactivity.
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.
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.
Boxing will always be in my life.
I've done a lot of things in my life that I'm not proud of.
I fought tall fighters, short fighters, strong fighters, slow fighters, sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.
Generally, the more weight you put on, the less effective you are.
When I turned pro, Muhammad Ali was laying back, and I was able to fill up an area that was empty.
The time to stop is when the other guy hits you more than you hit him.
I used to walk to the Washington Monument from North L Street Northwest. And I was so hungry at times, I would stop and look into the trash cans, and if there was a half a sandwich, I would take that sandwich and eat it. It was just a matter of survival. I didn't think much of it, but it was just the way things were.
I run three to four times a week. I go down to Orange County in California and I run all the time... all the time. You see the oceans, the trees. I like running in hot weather. I like to sweat and get all those toxins out of my system. I thoroughly enjoy it.
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.
I was not athletically inclined. I was very quiet, introverted, non-confrontational. My three older brothers were athletes - basketball, football - but I was kind of a momma's boy. Then one day, my brother Roger encouraged me to go to the boxing gym with him. I tried the gloves on, and it just felt so natural.
Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire, and he will. For health reasons.
I'm not religious, but I believe that what I have is a gift, and I respect it and live up to it.
Except for Ali, fighters had never been marketable.
The Olympics meant everything to me. Going through them is like nothing else you will ever experience. For those few weeks, you are in another world. At that point, I couldn't see how there could ever be anything better.
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.
To say what I would have been if I wasn't boxing, I don't know why, but I always wanted to be an x-ray technician or a substitute teacher. Those two occupations always stuck with me, maybe because my substitute teacher didn't give us homework, or because I've always had x-rays of my hands.
I learned to run backwards from Muhammad Ali. He told me about running backwards because you try to imitate everything you do in the ring, so sometimes you back up. So you have to train your legs to go backwards.
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 always designed my robes and how I would present myself at every fight.
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. On the downside, you meet a lot of really bad people in boxing, at all stages of your career.
It's hard to talk about yourself.
You get these moments in the ring that live forever. That's what Muhammad Ali accomplished, and I hope that I have, too.
Before the start of the '76 Olympics, I'd had 160 amateur fights. I won 155 and lost five.
When the trainer talks to the fighter, there's a connection. You don't always have to say much.
Boxing was the only career where I wouldn't have to start out at the bottom. I had a good resume.
I want my fights to be seen as plays that have a beginning, a middle and an end.
I always expect unexpected challenges. Boxing is not an easy sport.
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 made the decision to turn pro, and I remember what Ali said to me: 'Get Angelo Dundee. He's the right complexion with the right connection.' He knew boxing. Our relationship was so genuine, so sincere.
