Boxing's a poor man's sport. We can't afford to play golf or tennis. It is what it is. It's kept so many kids off the street. It kept me off the street.

Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.

Look at football, where you still have injuries no matter how much they improve the helmets and other equipment.

It is wonderful. It truly is. It is the only thing that is real! It's you against me, it's challenging another guy's manhood. With gloves. Words cannot describe that feeling of being a man, of being a gladiator, of being a warrior. It's irreplaceable.

You don't play boxing. You really don't. You play golf, you play tennis, but you don't play boxing.

I wanted to be like Bruce Jenner.

Before the start of the '76 Olympics, I'd had 160 amateur fights. I won 155 and lost five