“I’m lining up my troops to go to battle with. Tarver is the man at light heavyweight. He has the credibility of the fans and media, and that’s what counts. That’s why I am taking this risk, but I am taking it by preparing myself with good people.”

I didn’t need to take any fight for the last 10 years. But I’ve always fought the best and I’ve always wanted to prove myself to the best.

It takes no effort to be ordinary. Ordinary is not even a challenge. You can do nothing and be ordinary.

This is a great position to be in. I don’t really believe there is any fighter, in any decade that can be in my position of luxury that I’ve been in for many years.

I don’t know what being a 48-year-old feels like. There are a lot of 48 year olds that aren’t in good shape. The pharmacy is making a killing off of them.

This fight isn’t about boxing, it’s something deeper than that.

There are so many things I’ve done that the world of boxing has witnessed. It’s going to be difficult for the boxing people to pick one of my performances as the best.

There’s always a chance you will see something new in a fight. Especially in boxing.

The powers that be don’t want athletes or boxers to become as smart as they are.

I was made to be where I’m at. I just had to go through some challenges, so that I can educate others later.

I would never let a white boy beat me. You can print that. I would never lose to a white person.

I function better when my back is to the wall.

Tavoris Cloud might actually be hungrier than me. How often do you hear a fighter say that his opponent is hungrier than he is? I don’t need hunger. I’m motivated by my desire to prove that I’m different and that I can still silence the critics.

I must destroy everybody that comes in front of me. I must execute them and I must do it in grand style. I must slay Robert Allen like I must slay De La Hoya or anybody else that steps in that ring.

Enjoy that you can see me now. I would love to see the great Michael Jordan and Julius Erving in their younger days, but they’re gone. Look at me at 50, I’m going to eat right and live right so I can take less punches and look normal.

I got knocked down. Anybody could be knocked down, anybody can be knocked out, but it’s not what happened, but what happens next.

Did you hear what this idiot just said!? He said it’s not about the W…It’s everything about the W with me!

We certainly haven’t used that as a motivation, … The games themselves and the time that they’ve put in in preparation for these games is motivation enough. I don’t think that has anything to do with it at all.

Human beings have always told their histories and truths through parable and fable. We are inveterate storytellers.

Mostly we’re motivated to control ourselves in public. Mostly. At home the motivation is much less clear. At home there’s a bit of a lab for bad behavior.

The hardest thing you will ever do is trust yourself.

To believe in a child is to believe in the Future.

Thank God there were a couple of people in my life who said, “Go on, go on – you can do it!

Real obstacles don’t take you in circles. They can be overcome. Invented ones are like a maze.

Christians tend to motivate others with guilt. We tend to say: You would do this if you were really committed Christians, indicating that we are committed and all that is needed is for others to become as good as we are!