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.
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.
I'm one of the most optimistic persons in the world. I always believed that - there's another shot, another chance. In boxing, I never gave up. I kept trying, kept trying. Even when things seemed so dim, I continued to push forward to make something happen in my favor.
When you're a boxer, there is a lot of downtime and long periods of inactivity.
For some reason, I was drawn towards boxing. Or maybe boxing drew me towards it - because once I put those gloves on, after about six months, boxing was my life.
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.
Duran always disturbs me. The guy is just weird. Before our first fight, both Duran and his wife gave my wife the finger.
No one but myself thought I could beat guys like Tommy Hearns or Roberto Duran.
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.
Ray Leonard is more the family man, kind of quiet. He's not as outgoing as Sugar Ray Leonard. Sugar Ray Leonard was very determined, very focused, very outgoing and very selfish, if you will. There are two different individuals there.
Holyfield is nothing but class, and I think he's a breath of fresh air for the sport.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was painfully initiated into boxing, because the guys I fought were a lot bigger than me.
I never met a person as determined as my mother. From working hard for six kids to just trying to keep the household down or maintain my father's discipline, my dad, I'm so much like my father too. My father was so introverted, quiet, shy, nice. I got attributes from my father and mother.
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.