Quotes From All Time Great Fighters.

[Southpaw16BF]

Here are Quotes form past greats.

Every man's got to figure to get beat sometime.
Joe Louis

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
Joe Louis

I don't like money, actually, but it quiets my nerves.
Joe Louis

I made the most of my ability and I did my best with my title.
Joe Louis

Once that bell rings you're on your own. It's just you and the other guy.
Joe Louis

We have one life; it soon will be past; what we do for God is all that will last.
Muhammad Ali

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
Muhammad Ali

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Muhammad Ali

I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.
Muhammad Ali

I'll be floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.
Muhammad Ali

A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
Muhammad Ali

The man who has no imagination has no wings.
Muhammad Ali

You always say 'I'll quit when I start to slide', and then one morning you wake up and realize you've done slid.
Sugar Ray Robinson

Even though the outcome wasn't the way it should have been, publicly I still feel in my heart I won the Sugar Ray Leonard fight.
Marvin Hagler

In some ways that fight gave me more respect around the world and helped me be even more popular because so many people felt my pain and saw that I was robbed.
Marvin Hagler

Oh yeah, I mean every fighter has got be dedicated, learn how to sacrifice, know what the devotion is all about, make sure you're paying attention and studying your art.
Marvin Hagler

People still look at me as the champion and that's very important to me.
Marvin Hagler

Sitting here now today, I can forgive a lot of the English people because it only takes a hand full of bad people to do something stupid like that and it can make the whole country look bad.
Marvin Hagler

The situation right after the fight wasn't too good; I believe I'm still the only champion in the world who never received the belt inside the ring once you've won the title. I held that against the English fans for a long time but I felt that also motivated me.
Marvin Hagler

There are a lot of things and in order to be at the top and maintain your focus you have to have something that motivates you. For me, it was what I perceived as a lack of respect from the boxing world as well as the media, which made me want to work so hard and be great.
Marvin Hagler

Well, you can't trust most people in this game, period; it can be a very shady business.
Marvin Hagler

You know looking back on it now I used the fight and after the fight as motivation, to make sure I was going to be the best middleweight in the world for a long time.
Marvin Hagler

You know, I think I had a great career; there's not much I think I'd do different other than get a title shot much earlier. I didn't get one till 49 or 50 fights into my career.
Marvin Hagler

A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.
Jack Dempsey

Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches.
Roberto Duran

I'm not God - but I am something similar.
Roberto Duran

Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire, and he will. For health reasons.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Ali's belief in himself was something I picked up on, and it's become my own philosophy.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Although it was a great accomplishment to win a gold medal, as soon as they put it on you, that's it; your career is over.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Before I fight, I always pray that no one gets hurt.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Before the start of the '76 Olympics, I'd had 160 amateur fights. I won 155 and lost five.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Boxing brings out my aggressive instinct, not necessarily a killer instinct.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Boxing is the ultimate challenge. There's nothing that can compare to testing yourself the way you do every time you step in the ring.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Boxing was not something I truly enjoyed. Like a lot of things in life, when you put the gloves on, it's better to give than to receive.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Boxing was the only career where I wouldn't have to start out at the bottom. I had a good resume.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Bruce Lee was an artist and, like him, I try to go beyond the fundamentals of my sport. I want the public to see a knockout in the making.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Duran always disturbs me. The guy is just weird. Before our first fight, both Duran and his wife gave my wife the finger.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Except for Ali, fighters had never been marketable.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Generally, the more weight you put on, the less effective you are.
Sugar Ray Leonard

Holyfield is nothing but class, and I think he's a breath of fresh air for the sport.
Sugar Ray Leonard

I fought tall fighters, short fighters, strong fighters, slow fighters, sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.
Sugar Ray Leonard

I think an athlete should be honest. I know it's difficult, but if a guy knocked me on my can, I couldn't very well say, I slipped.
Sugar Ray Leonard

I think I've become one of the best finishers in boxing; if I hurt a guy, I normally take him out.
Sugar Ray Leonard

I want my fights to be seen as plays that have a beginning, a middle and an end.
Sugar Ray Leonard

I was painfully initiated into boxing, because the guys I fought were a lot bigger than me.
Sugar Ray Leonard

I'll think, If this is his first punch, how are the others gonna feel? That's the only fear I have for myself.
Sugar Ray Leonard

[Southpaw16BF]

I prayed, thanking God, for making it all possible for me, because I knew where I came from.
Thomas Hearns

I'm going to fight again because this wasn't a fight.
Thomas Hearns

In boxing, everybody has their favorites.
Thomas Hearns

Ray Leonard was more of a favorite than Thomas Hearns that night.
Thomas Hearns

Some people are going to be happy with my decision, some people aren't... But I must live my life.
Thomas Hearns

That was the fight. I knew that I had done something that no man had been able to do to a champion.
Thomas Hearns

The loss just made me hungry; it made me want to go out and win another title.
Thomas Hearns


Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took and your name in the undertaker book.
Joe Frazier

I want to hit him, step away and watch him hurt. I want his heart.
Joe Frazier

Life doesn't run away from nobody. Life runs at people.
Joe Frazier

This is just another man, another fight, another payday.
Joe Frazier

We're in Manila. Come on, gorilla; this is a thriller.
Joe Frazier

When I go out there, I have no pity on my brother. I'm out there to win.
Joe Frazier

hero is someone right who doesn't change.
George Foreman

Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.
George Foreman

Everybody wants to be somebody. The thing you have to do is give them confidence they can. You have to give a kid a dream.
George Foreman

Generally when there's a lot of smoke... there's just a whole lot more smoke.
George Foreman

George Foreman. A miracle. A mystery to myself. Who am I? The mirror says back. The George you was always meant to be. Wasn't always like that. Used to look in the mirror and cried a river.
George Foreman

I am a winner each and every time I go into the ring.
George Foreman

I don't even think about a retirement program because I'm working for the Lord, for the Almighty. And even thought the Lord's pay isn't very high, his retirement program is, you might say, out of this world.
George Foreman

I want to keep fighting because it is the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don't fight, I'll eat this planet.
George Foreman

I'm a winner each and every time I go into the ring.
George Foreman

I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won.
George Foreman

My kids idea of a hard life is to live in a house with only one phone.
George Foreman

My mother was watching on television and she doesn't want me to hurt anyone.
George Foreman

Put your name on something, it better be the best... you only get one shot.
George Foreman

Sure the fight was fixed. I fixed it with a right hand.
George Foreman

That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.
George Foreman

The Internal Revenue Service is the real undefeated heavyweight champion.
George Foreman

The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it's at what income.
George Foreman

The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters.
George Foreman

They'll take everything, even your tears.
George Foreman

When I was a kid in Houston, we were so poor we couldn't afford the last 2 letters, so we called ourselves po'.
George Foreman

Ali was a guy that had a lot of discipline. If you hung around him, you'd be able to get some of that discipline that he had. And I learned from that. He was a sweet man.
Larry Holmes

All fighters are prostitutes and all promoters are pimps.
Larry Holmes

Bob Arum and Don King can do their thing but if I fought for those guys and they put the money up like they are supposed to then I don't have a problem.
Larry Holmes

Everybody knows that I am one of the greatest fighters of all time and I would beat all those guys.
Larry Holmes

Fighters today are much bigger, stronger and quicker and not only that but referees, judges and doctors back then were very strict and if your head got busted up the fight would be stopped.
Larry Holmes

George Foreman is easier and has the bigger name and have you noticed that Foreman never calls me out or ever mentions my name? He is afraid of me like most fighters are and most people want to forget about Larry Holmes, like he never ever existed.
Larry Holmes

I always felt good about myself. I was just an average person. I always felt I could do anything anyone else could. If an average person makes up their mind to do something, they can.
Larry Holmes

I am still quick at 250 to 260 lbs and I am smarter.
Larry Holmes

I came from a dirt farm, now I'm filthy rich.
Larry Holmes

I don't really make plans and I just want to be happy and continue with my business and take care of my wife and kids. I want to sit back, relax and enjoy life.
Larry Holmes

I don't think Joe Louis could take the punches today fighting in this era.
Larry Holmes

I have a lot of friends and fans in Canada and as a matter of fact I met a fan from there that came down to my office. It was nice and we took pictures and had a nice talk.
Larry Holmes

I never tried to be a mercenary or a killer but a hard working fighter.
Larry Holmes

I still feel that I am in my prime right now but I think my best fights were in my thirties.
Larry Holmes

I think Ali was a fan of mine, even though he never said it. A lot of fighters thought I was pretty good. Nobody every really spoke different on that. But a lot of fighters thought I was good so.
Larry Holmes

I think George Foreman must have gained about 350 lbs and is slow as ever.
Larry Holmes

I was probably the best that ever walked this earth. And I could take a punch. I could deliver a punch. I didn't have the hardest punch in the world but my punches were sharp and they were crisp. And if you took too many of them, you would be knocked out.
Larry Holmes

I would think about the outcome. Visualize sometimes. Because it never comes out the way you want it to. Fight the way I know how to fight. Whatever comes up, comes up.
Larry Holmes

I'm not in the K-1 tournament. We thought about it but they really don't want me as they feel I might get hurt so that's fine with me but I do see a lot of guys out there that I feel I can take.
Larry Holmes

It's hard being black. You ever been black? I was black once - when I was poor.
Larry Holmes

[Southpaw16BF]

I believe, in my prime, I could have fought with anybody alive.
Rocky Marciano

I don't want to be remembered as a beaten champion.
Rocky Marciano

I have always adhered to two principles. The first one is to train hard and get in the best possible physical condition. The second is to forget all about the other fellow until you face him in the ring and the bell sounds for the fight.
Rocky Marciano

I was on my face. I heard the count from one to 10. I kept telling myself that I had to get up, but I couldn't move. I couldn't make myself move. It was the strangest feeling.
Rocky Marciano

In the ring, I never really knew fear.
Rocky Marciano

What could be better than walking down any street in any city and knowing you're the heavyweight champion of the world?
Rocky Marciano

Why waltz with a guy for 10 rounds if you can knock him out in one?
Rocky Marciano

I'm like the drunk in the bar who wants just one more for the road.
Archie Moore

Mine was an apparent forward movement whereas Burley's was a continuous serpentine movement.
Archie Moore

Very few people could make me fight out of my system. Burley was one.
Archie Moore

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.
Mike Tyson

Anyone with a grain of sense would know that if I punched my wife I would rip her head off. It's all lies. I have never laid a finger on her.
Mike Tyson

As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want.
Mike Tyson

Every time there's a revolution, it comes from somebody reading a book about revolution. David Walker wrote a book and Nat Turner did his thing.
Mike Tyson

Everybody's got plans... until they get hit.
Mike Tyson

Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.
Mike Tyson

God lets everything happen for a reason. It's all a learning process, and you have to go from one level to another.
Mike Tyson

I ain't the same person I was when I bit that guy's ear off.
Mike Tyson

I can inspire people on how to use money, how to get economically powerful.
Mike Tyson

I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm.
Mike Tyson

I did my time for the rape. I paid my money to Las Vegas. I paid my dues.
Mike Tyson

I don't react to a tragic happening any more. I took so many bad things as a kid and some people think I don't care about anything. It's just too hard for me to get emotional. I can't cry no more.
Mike Tyson

I don't try to intimidate anybody before a fight. That's nonsense. I intimidate people by hitting them.
Mike Tyson

I don't understand why people would want to get rid of pigeons. They don't bother no one.
Mike Tyson

I feel bad about my outlook, how I feel about people and society, and that I'll never be part of society the way I should.
Mike Tyson

I feel like sometimes that I was not meant for this society.
Mike Tyson

I have the same malice in my heart as far as the fight game is concerned, but outside the ring, I won't say anything a dignified man won't say.
Mike Tyson

I intend to fight and I want to win. But my priorities are basically to be a good Brother and a strong one, and to try to be a good father one day.
Mike Tyson

I just look around and say, I'm a mess. I don't know why I do things.
Mike Tyson

I just want to be humble at all times.
Mike Tyson

A boxing match is like a cowboy movie. There's got to be good guys and there's got to be bad guys. And that's what people pay for - to see the bad guys get beat.
Sonny Liston

Come over here and sit on my knee and finish your orange juice.
Sonny Liston

How would you like to find out how good my right is?
Sonny Liston

Newspapermen ask dumb questions. They look up at the sun and ask if it is shining.
Sonny Liston

The only thing my old man ever gave me was a beating.
Sonny Liston

[Southpaw16BF]

I have been in there with all of them and there is nothing left for me to prove.
Lennox Lewis

If the money's right, I'm happy to bust up the other side of his face... No problem.
Lennox Lewis

It's not rage that drives me, it's competition.
Lennox Lewis

The fight will last as long as I allow it to last, and then I will knock him out.
Lennox Lewis

[mickey malone]

One of my favs from Hagler...

'It's real hard to get up at 5am & run 5 miles when you're in a 4 post bed wearing silk pyjamas'

[MANGLER]

'You can run but you can't hide.' - Joe Louis

[GJC]

One of my favs from Hagler...

'It's real hard to get up at 5am & run 5 miles when you're in a 4 post bed wearing silk pyjamas'

That’s really on the money, never seen that quote before.
That is the reason why longevity is an important factor when measuring greatness. It’s hard to get there it’s even harder to stay there.