Jack Dempsey Quotes

I was a pretty good fighter. But it was the writers who made me great.

Don't worry honey, I'm too mean to die.

All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him.

Tell him he can have my title, but I want it back in the morning.

A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.

A champion owes everybody something. He can never pay back for all the help he got, for making him an idol.

The best defense is a good offense.

Nailing him was like trying to thread a needle in a high wind.

I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can lick any S.O.B. in the house.

Honey, I just forgot to duck.

By forgetting the past and by throwing myself into other interests, I forget to worry.

You know what a champion is? A champion is someone who's ready when the gong rings - not just before, not just after - but when it rings.

A Gentle Man and a Gentleman.

I never went to bed in my life and I never ate a meal in my life without saying a prayer. I know my prayers have been answered thousands of times, and I know that I never said a prayer in my life without something good coming of it.

When I was a young fellow I was knocked down plenty. I wanted to stay down, but I couldn't. I had to collect the two dollars for winning or go hungry. I had to get up. I was one of those hungry fighters. You could have hit me on the chin with a sledgehammer for five dollars. When you haven't eaten for two days you'll understand.

Tall men come down to my height when I hit 'em in the body.

Nobody owes anybody a living, but everybody is entitled to a chance.

For the first and only time, I was more worried about getting hurt by the crowd than by the guy I was fighting. I got a pretty good blast when introduced. The crowd was hollering and raising hell. I looked around for my bodyguard, a colorful New York character named Wild Bill Lyons, who packed two pearl-handled pistols and used to talk a lot about his days in the West. Wild Bill was under the ring, hiding.

Champions get up when they can't.

A good fighter usually knows, to within a very few seconds, when a three-minute round is going to end.