“This is boxing, not tennis. Everyone likes a bit of rivalry, it makes for a good fight.”

People are paying to see me. You’ve got to give something back.

There are two types of warriors: the one that rides through on his horse and tries to slay everyone, and the sniper. I try to be more like the sniper. Bang. Bang. Bang. Break them down, shot by shot.

Sportsmen just do what they do. I’m not trying to be a role model. If there’s any inspiration people can take from me, take as much as you can – from my good and my bad.

What makes a champion great is how he dethrones the guy before him. Look at Mike Tyson against Trevor Berbick and how he crushed him. You have to rip the title away from him.

America is the mecca of boxing, and they’ve had some great champions here. It’s good to establish your skills and let people know what you’re about in the States.

I think towards the end of my career, I’m the man. But right now, I’ve still got that underdog mentality to keep on proving myself time and again. I’m not going to believe the hype.

The mental is more important than the physical. You know, that voice in your head telling you to give up if it gets tough. That’s my main opponent – making sure that if your body wants to stop, your mind won’t let you.

For me to have a cheeky little biscuit, it’s not going to hurt. But I need to control those indulgences. I can’t just be scoffing cakes and biscuits five nights a week.

I kind of focus on my own stuff, really, and then when people come into my territory, I’ve got to fight them away, and that’s what we do every time fight night happens.

People who do crime do it for reward. But you end up in jail – that’s no reward. Through crime, your ambitions are low.

It’s hard to say I don’t like being famous, but how I feel is that I don’t see myself as that person. It baffles me that people would want a picture with me.

I can be the nice family man at home, and then when I go to the gym, maybe sparring with someone, I switch into beast mode. It ain’t pretty.

You have to speak from a place where all is possible. When you speak from a place where there’s limits, you’ve already set yourself up to fail.

I realised that I could either fight and get into trouble on the street or I could fight and get paid in the ring. I chose the ring.

I used to drink. I didn’t like reading, but I discovered the benefits of it. I read that Floyd Mayweather never drinks – and he is the blueprint for boxing.

It’s not so much about conquering Madison Square Garden or Vegas. The opponents who I fight will take me all around different venues and arenas. I need to conquer opponents.

For this reason, they must believe in the cause for which they are fighting.

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.

Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective. Use the stress to make you a better you.

I’ll knock the sh*t out that b*tch like an enema.

How do you fight someone who doesn’t care if they get killed? You accommodate them.

More than a decade of continuous war and tough combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan gave birth to a new generation of leaders in the ranks of America’s fighting forces.

War exposes the best and worst of those who are called to fight. I know of no man who lacked character in peace and then discovered his character in combat.

Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for.