“A champion shows who he is by what he does.”

Every time someone starts talking about weight, it takes away from the fight. No one is born at that weight. We grew into that weight. It is all about the challenge, more so than the weight.

I got three whippings a day from my mama.

When you do not change up a lot, people may know you a lot better than they should.

The word of God steadies me. He says your trials and tribulations make you who you are. So you can see my whole story in the way I endured and overcame some testing experiences.

When at a young age you learn to face your fears, that makes the difference between people being champions and people not being champions.

I’ve had a great life following my faith and my instincts.

I think my whole living in vain involves me. I know that the biggest help for me is to help someone else in so many different ways.

The game’s been good to me and I hope I’ve been good to the game. I’m 50 years old and I’ve pretty much did everything that I wanted to do in boxing.

Either I believe I can be the best heavyweight fighter in the world and beat everyone, or I will not. I feel I can beat everyone as a heavyweight.

When you have a sound mind, you can do what’s necessary.

Pressure bursts pipes. I thank God for giving me peace of mind to overcome pressure. The difference between winning and losing is when pressure hits.

I probably do better not being in politics. They have too much control over you when you are in politics.

A champion shows who he is by what he does when he’s tested. When a person gets up and says ‘I can still do it’, he’s a champion.

The most important thing about being a father is being able to forgive yourself. If you don’t forgive yourself, you’re not going to forgive your kids, either.

It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.

When you refuse to fight guys because you say you are better than them, that is not really being the best. If I could just fight certain fighters that fit my style, I would look great in all of them.

What America demands in her black champions is a brilliant, powerful body and a dull, bestial mind.

Champions never complain, they are too busy getting better.

Always be the best, my boy, the bravest, and hold your head up high above all the others. Never disgrace the generation of your fathers. They were the bravest champions.

A true champion has experienced fatigue many times and yet always finds what they still haven’t given.

Real talent doesn’t always win championships, like real music doesn’t always win Grammys.

A champion of the workingman has never been known to die of overwork.

If you want to be a champion you cannot have any kind of an outside negative force coming in to deflect you.

One must champion oneself and say, I am ready for this!