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.

Boxing was not the sport that I thought is was due to all the politics.

I was a small kid from Huntington, Long Island. I never imagined that anything like that would happen to me.

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.

I lost three times in my career. Losing to Holmes I could deal with, because I lost to a true champion.

All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none.

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.

Roberto Duran was the kind of guy who was a true fighter and you hardly see guys like that anymore.

By the time you're 30 years old, you can be on a nowhere street, if you're not careful.

I am seeing all the guys, like Earnie Shavers, Tex Cobb, and Larry Holmes all the time.

The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before going in with [Larry] Holmes. That would have made all the difference.

Over the years most of my peers had come to hate me—I never understood why. I guess I was just different and, like dogs, they could smell it. So I never had many friends.

I searched everywhere for a proof of reality, when all the while I understood quite well that the standard of reality had changed

I think that under ordinary circumstances (i.e., neither person is famous), it's already hard enough to make a long-term romantic relationship work, but add fame to the calculus.

The league, I think, is doing well. It's growing, it's maturing, and it's becoming a better league. (on Major League Soccer)

Fear isn't in my vocabulary.

There are many really stupid ideas that wind up being brilliant, if you can implement them.

The longer you live and the more you learn, the more clearly you will feel the difference between the few men who are truly great and the mere virtuosi.

There is no spirituality without ethics

What you think is real is your reality.

Being an athlete, you try to get protein.