I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.

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

I say get an education. Become an electrician, a mechanic, a doctor, a lawyer — anything but a fighter. In this trade, it's the managers that make the money and last the longest.

Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.