I fought tall fighters, short fighters, strong fighters, slow fighters, sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.

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.

To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and focusing on training.

You just don't heal that easy unless you're young.

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

I retired and came back in '97. Woo! I mean, come on! I don't know, man. A six-year layoff? That was crazy! My career was relatively short, whether you look at either its length in years or the number of fights I had. But it was brutal.

Before I fight, I always pray that no one gets hurt.