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.
Boxing brings out my aggressive instinct, not necessarily a killer instinct.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Muhammad Ali was a god, an idol and an icon. He was boxing. Any kid that had the opportunity to talk to Ali, to get advice from Muhammad Ali, was privileged. He's always given me time to ask questions, although I was so in awe that I didn't ask questions.
You get these moments in the ring that live forever. That's what Muhammad Ali accomplished, and I hope that I have, too.
There will always be something about two men in the ring - a mystique because it's pure man-to-man competition. Because of the history boxing has and the tradition it holds, boxing will always have a that mystique.
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've never believed in tying myself up in a long-range contract, and I've been very outspoken on that subject.
Without boxing, because of my neighborhoods, who knows what would have happened to me. It was always about following the leader. And I definitely was not a leader. Boxing gave me discipline; a sense of self. It made me more outspoken. It gave me more confidence.
I made an instant connection with boxing right away. Boxing became such a part of me. I ate boxing, I slept boxing, I lived boxing. Boxing was a way of expressing myself because I was not that outspoken.
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'm a free agent. I haven't allowed any promoters to have exclusive options on my fight. I don't need a promoter.
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.
Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire, and he will. For health reasons.
Boxing was the only career where I wouldn't have to start out at the bottom. I had a good resume.
Sugar Ray Robinson was probably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.
