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.

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

With the Klitschkos, though, unless someone comes around, they can stay where they are forever! The heavyweight division is lackluster, and it will be until someone comes along who can test them.

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.

The way to beat the Klitschkos is to get inside, under the jab, and bang to the body. Do that for two or three or four rounds and then the hands will come down and then you turn them over. It's like chopping a tree down. These guys try to headhunt when they fight them and that won't work. But you back them up, the younger brother especially, and he loses heart.

I am a fight fan. I think boxing had its problems and kind of fell away for a while, but it's coming back strong .

If you look at my career, towards the end you will see I was fighting like once a year. I was not part of the Don King top heavyweights, so I was kind of kept out. His guys were getting three to four fights a year and I could only get one.