“The trouble with boxing is that too often it ends in sadness.”

I’ve spent my life navigating through sensitive issues. Not wanting to upset people.

I don’t want to sound obnoxious, but I like to think I brought it another step. I was able to bring people who were casually interested in boxing together.

Boxing is changing and training methods are slowly being dragged into the 21st century.

Work hard, think fast and you’ll last.

What I would say about Barney Eastwood is that when our relationship worked, it worked extremely well. He had a lot of strengths as a promoter and a manager.

A pit bull is like a fighter. Every so often it needs to taste blood.

I’d had 35 professional fights and mentally I was tired of it. I’d sort ot fallen out of love with the sport.

Every fighter has a story that could break your heart. We lose, we get hurt and everything comes apart. That’s when it’s so difficult to stay on the straight and narrow.

If somebody had told me in the 1980s that Gerry Adams would shake hands with Ian Paisley or Peter Robinson I would have said put that man in a white suit and lock him up in a padded cell.

I get people to this day – I won my title 25 years ago – saying how wonderful a time they had during that dark period in our history when they came to watch me fight.

I wanted to bring people together, and most importantly not feel threatened when they came to watch me box.

I train very hard, either rowing on the cross trainer or running. Not only do you feel tired afterwards but it relaxes you, it completely clears the head. But to sort things out I also like to walk.

There is nothing like wealth for dulling desire.

The roughest and toughest fighter I fought was Joe Frazier.

I am grateful for all my victories, but I am especially grateful for my losses, because they only made me work harder.

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.

Allah is the Greatest. I’m just the greatest boxer.

It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.

I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.

Success is not achieved by winning all the time. Real success comes when we rise after we fall.