I wasn't a big guy. People thought the big guys would eat me up. But it was the other way around. I loved to fight bigger guys.

Champions aren't made in the ring, they are merely recognized there.

You got 3 things going against you: you're good, you're left-handed, and you're black

The boxing game has been good, so we need to give back. We have to teach young men how to be men.

Work is the only meanin' I've ever known. Like the man in the song says, I just gotta keep on keepin' on.

You can map out a light plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you're down to the reflexes you developed in training. That's where roadwork shows - the training you did in the dark of the mornin' will show when you're under the bright lights.

I had my Olympic gold medal cut up into eleven pieces. Gave all eleven of my kids a piece. It'll come together again when they put me down.