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The sport needs a personality, not a fighter. We've got plenty of great fighters in the sport, but no personalities. No one is standing for anything. The last personality we had was Mike Tyson. He stood for something. It wasn't much, but he stood for something.
My family's support and the negative environment of the day toward blacks in South Carolina became the forces that led me out of the South - first to New York, then to Philadelphia, where I found opportunity in the form of a PAL gym and my trainer, Yank Durham.
My dad used to tell me, 'Check the price, son.' Check the price, kids, check the price because there is a price to be paid for whatever you do in life, whether it is good or it is bad. Before you do something, ask yourself is it worth the price you have to pay?
Am I feminist? I don't know. I'm not really sure what that is. I am all up for equality to a certain extent, although in the home, I do feel this is where the mother excels and the man needs to step back a bit. My family is from Nigeria, and this is our culture.
It's definitely hard to live up to expectation. Especially early in my career, everyone was expecting so much from me, everyone was comparing me to my father. They didn't understand that they're comparing me to a world champion, which is very unfair as a novice.
I did a job, [Don King] took money, probably more than he should have. If I was supposed to get $10 million, I was lucky to get $6.5 million. It happens and you can't do much, you decide whether to take it or leave it. King was a promoter, and he was good at it.
The situation right after the fight wasn't too good; I believe I'm still the only champion in the world who never received the belt inside the ring once you've won the title. I held that against the English fans for a long time but I felt that also motivated me.
If they don't have that extreme addict personality, you can never understand how a guy can blow 300 or 400 million dollars. If I have to live at the top of the world, I also have to live at the bottom of the ocean. I don't know how to live in the middle of life.
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 knew very little or nothing about the Olympics. Having qualified was itself a big achievement for me, and then being there was quite overwhelming. Although I lost in the opening round, but the fact that I fought well was enough for me to take away from Athens.
Politics is comparable to boxing. The only thing is that in politics there are basically no rules. In boxing, you can get a black eye, but in politics you can get poison in your food or a bullet in the head. It's definitely rougher and tougher than other sports.
I am the heavyweight champion of the world, and the greatest heavyweight you have seen for a long while. With Tyson on the card, it is definitely an added bonus because Lewis-Tyson on the same card would be a great doubleheader. This is what the fans want to see.
An incident that left an impression on me was the 1999 sub-junior national boxing championship held in Calcutta. I had trained extremely hard to get there but got kicked out in the first round itself. 'If others can win, why can't you?' I repeatedly asked myself.
I beat Larry Holmes and George Foreman. I whupped Mike Tyson twice. I had my ear chewed off and spat on the ground in front of me. I've seen everything it is possible to see in boxing. I know this business better than anyone. So I live and die by my own decisions.
But I do say that, if you will regularly devote 15 minutes a day, preferably before breakfast, for 60 days to the simple set of exercises that I devised for conditioning men in the navy, I guarantee that you will enjoy increased physical buoyancy and mental vigor.
When it gets to the part in life where you're more afraid of what your wife is going to do to you than if you box, say, Mike Tyson, you've got to get a new profession. You don't get to be a family. I know why boxers never quit, some of them. They don't have wives.
I'm having a wonderful time in training. It's so funny because you go through ups and you go through downs. People have to realize that my career started on a down. I got ripped off a Gold Medal at the Olympics but it didn't stop me and it made me a better person.
All of a sudden, one day, you're this boxer that everybody like, or you're this guy that people pass on the highway and wave at. The next day, you're this guy that everybody want to touch - be in touch with you. Then you think that this is the answer to all things.
When I step into the ring with someone, this has got to be their vacation spot, but my home turf. So I go the opposite side seven rounds doing the same thing. Skipping, skipping, skipping. Then I go seven rounds going both ways. Skip to the left, skip to the right.
People see it [boxing] as a physical contact sport, but it's not. It's really a spiritual one of will against will. Who wants it the most? How much is he willing to take - and dish out - to get it? It's like fighting is 10 percent physical and 90 percent emotional.
It's just what I'm born to do, I'm born to entertain people. I could do it for thirty-thousand people or three people, it's just what I know how to do. My soul objective only is for me to have the audience say 'when's the next time I can see him?' That's what I do.
To be a follower of The Honorable Elijah Mohammed, you have to completely extain from alcohol, or fornication, adultered, killin', stealin', lyin'. I would say that the people are not rejectin' the Honorable Elijah Mohammed because they don't believe what he teach.
By the time I retire, I will have fought the best. I will have made my money. Maybe I'll be a boxing commentator. I'll go back to school, definitely. I already have a plan. My life's set. I'll be on an island, married, playing golf in the sun. That will be my life.
You can't pretend there has ever been anyone come close to doing what I did. Nobody you could name could touch me, and I'm talking about nobody who's around now, nobody who was around in my prime, and nobody who was around any time you can mention outta your mouth.
There's always great things that champions do. It can be inside fighting, this person uses his range well, this person has a great right hand - anytime you fight a champion, there's multiple things that they do well, and you have to try to take those strengths away.
I won four world titles, got beat twice - but avenged one of those losses - and the other loss was on points to someone who was unbeaten in Andre Ward. I had a comfortable, successful career and it wasn't through natural ability but through dedication and hard work.
We know Manny [Pacquiao] is a living legend and a hall of fame for sure. He's one of the greatest fighters that has ever lived. For me, I have to go out there and be myself. I have the talent and the tools to win this fight - I just have to go out there and perform.
[Ruslan Provodnikov] s a fantastic fighter but in terms of his style and Manny's [ Pacquiao] they are completely different and the preparations for each are completely different but that is no different for me because I am always fighting guys with different styles.
I think waking up in the middle of the night and seeing stuff in the dark and thinking it is something scary or demonic. When you first wake up and you see things and you're eyes aren't open and things aren't what they seem. That happened to me like three weeks ago!
I dread handshakes. I've got some problems with my hands, and everywhere I go, people want to impress me with their grip. To make it worse, now women are coming up with that firm shake. So I'll say, 'Gimme five!' If a boy wants a handshake, I'll just give him a hug.
I understand that the average person can't imagine damaging their looks in any way if it could be avoided. But I don't value my physical beauty to the point where I would not do something I truly enjoy because I'm afraid of potentially hurting something superficial.
The seventies and eighties are when the division was really good. The fights were very enjoyable and everyone knew when the next fight was. Nowadays, you don't even know who won a fight three days after it happens. We need heavyweights, the people want heavyweights.
If youÂ’ve got physical weaknesses, youÂ’ll lose. Nobody who gets cut easily can be a champion, however strong and talented he is. Boxers are trained to see and exploit their opponentsÂ’ weaknesses, they hit you on your wounds. Only the strongest survive in this sport.
Boxing is a sport that is largely dominated by machos, by men who think we have to conform to a very specific role model. The ideal boxer doesn't think too much, is raw and brimming with strength. I am also fascinated by strength, but for me style is a part of that.
I want to compete in the next Olympics. If I go to Rio, it will be my third time, which is a rare feat for an Indian athlete. For me, Olympics is important because it's the biggest event on earth for a sports person. I hope this time around I come back with a medal.
You can train your mental strength just like you train your body. If your body looks fit or ripped, it looks strong, and you can flex your muscles. So, physically, you have a certain strength. Mentally, it's the same thing. You can train your psychological strength.
My mum and dad aren't together, but she plays a massive part in my life. We have deep conversations: I tell her where I need support, where I feel she's lacking, and I support her with whatever she needs. I understand she won't be here forever, and I want no regrets.
Some fighters lose and their spirits are forever broken. A champion comes back stronger. If you're constantly dwelling on the past, 'I could have done that, I should have done this,' it doesn't help. You have to look at the situation intellectually and learn from it.
The little things I used to take for granted before I don't take for granted anymore. This whole situation has evolved me into a better person. Mentally, I'm much stronger, I'm more loving. I'm a man now. Cancer has played a huge role into making me into this person.
People who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise.
Sometimes God gives instructions that go against conventional wisdom, such as treating people kindly when they're hateful. Who really wants to do that? Instructions like that may not always make sense, so that's why I need to trust and obey the One who inspired them.
I know that when a fighter is out of the ring for more than two years, when he comes back he isn't the same anymore. Each fighter is different. But each must think, even if something goes wrong, 'I have to make this decision and live with it for the rest of my life.'
When you become a world champion and you defend your title for five or six years, and you have fifteen defences of your title, and you round up most of the other belts - and you feel you're the best of your generation at the time - nobody can take that away from you.
I came out out at the age of 28 and knew I'd had one loss on points, and the only reason I had that loss was that the fight was taken too soon. I lost two and a half stone in eight weeks, which was virtually impossible, but I made it, and I still got that big cheque!
What's so crazy is when you give interviews to reporters that don't really care too much for you, basically what they're going to do is write what they want to write and discredit you. They're going to write and say what they want to say, no matter what you tell them.
I hope I can improve. I'm far from perfect. Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if I fought myself. I think it would be a one-round KO. But if I was fighting myself, I know I could take my best punch. No, make that two rounds. I would knock myself out in two rounds.
As a professional athlete and someone who has spent almost his entire life in boxing, not a day goes by when I don't think about coming back, but I am retired, and after speaking to my family and following a great deal of introspection, I have decided to stay retired.
I think God has it written down for me, that without training and working hard you will never achieve desired results. All three times I have had to toil my way into the Olympics. Talking about pressure, well that is something you have to learn to deal with in sports.
On October 20, 2012 - 17 months and two days after I was diagnosed with that rare form of bone cancer - I stepped back into the ring at the Barclays Center to fight Josh Luteran. He didn't make it out of the first round. Just 1:13 in, it was over. Knockout. I was back.
From the time I started boxing, my dream was to win an Olympic gold medal. At 10, I can't say I knew how big the Olympics are. I just knew that every kid in the gym wanted to win an Olympic gold medal. Every kid in every gym probably wants to win an Olympic gold medal.