Growing up training, I use to get up so early I would wave to the garbage men going by. So, I had this relationship with Blue Collar America and I really liked it. I felt that lots of those people looked forward to me winning.

Gil Clancy told me to move around for six or seven rounds, but when you're a puncher and you catch someone, you got after them. And in that fight [with George Foreman in 1999] my timing was off and I got caught.

Had I had another year, I think I would've beaten [ Harry Carpenter] - and Larry Holmes even said that himself; that if I'd had another year to get ready I'd have beaten him. Me and he are good friends today though, and that fight was a great moment for me. I lost, but then I had to move on and get on with my life.

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

I am involved in minor league baseball. I go around the country speaking to troubled youths, trying to help them understand that whatever path they choose, they'll need to really pay attention to it.

Today I have a great life. I have three kids and a beautiful wife. I play golf every day. I give to charities. I'm in a lucky position.

I was a left hooker, and I loved hooking. I also really liked to jab and mix it up right away.