Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There's nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring.

It was a whole different world, and Montreal was an absolutely beautiful setting unlike anywhere I'd ever been before. So, Montreal in '76 was an encompassing experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.

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

When I was 15 or 16 and I started climbing up the ladder of success in amateur boxing, a reporter asked me, "What do you want to be?" I think he was expecting me to say, "A champion." I said, "I want to be special." I don't know why I said that, but I didn't just want to be a fighter. I wanted to have an impact with people, particularly kids.

I lay around and wonder why you were always there for me.

Boxing was not something I truly enjoyed. Like a lot of things in life, when you put the gloves on, it's better to give than to receive.

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.