I'm so opposite of my profession. No one - particularly my mother and father - ever thought I was going to be a boxer because I always felt that football and baseball were too dangerous. I was just such a quiet kid.

We're all endowed with God-given talents. Mine happens to be hitting people in the head.

I've never believed in tying myself up in a long-range contract, and I've been very outspoken on that subject.

I saw Todd Bridges talk about being abused on Oprah. Something that he said, or an expression that he made that gave me that little boost I needed to be open about it and to talk about it as transparently as I did. When I told my wife, she couldn't believe it. She was petrified, because it's such a no-no, taboo, a hands-off subject. But I'd have to say hearing Todd Bridges on Oprah was my watershed moment.

A fighter never knows when it's the last bell. He doesn't want to face that.

I'm a competitor and a very proud man. If a guy beats me once, he'll have to do it again to make me believe him.

Holyfield is nothing but class, and I think he's a breath of fresh air for the sport.