Notable Quotes from Boxing champions

[sonnyboyx2]

Notable Quotes from boxing champions:

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

"I just want them to keep bringing guys on and I'm going to strip them of their health. I bring pain, a lot of pain." Mike Tyson

"I always go to the gyms and watch heavyweights. I'm always casing the gyms because one of those guys may end up wanting to fight me. That is just my competitiveness." Evander Holyfield

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark." Muhammad Ali

[JAB5239]

Not a champion, but great quotes from Tex Cobb just the same.

"If you screw things up in tennis, it's 15-love. If you screw up in boxing, it's your ass."

(When informed that Howard Cosell quit boxing after his fight with Larry Holmes) "My gift to boxing."

When asked about how he was going to fight Holmes by Howard Cosell "Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him"

(Asked about a possible rematch against Larry Holmes) "I dont think his hands can take the abuse"

Asked about fighting Holmes again "Only if it's held in a phone booth"

"Larry Holmes doesn't hit as hard as Earnie Shavers. Nobody hits like Shavers. If anybody hit harder than Shavers, I'd shoot him."

"Larry Holmes didn't beat me he just won the first 15 rounds"

Mills Lane stopped the action to ask Cobb if he was okay in a fight in Reno. When Cobb replied that he was, Lane asked him, "Do you know where you are?" Cobb replied, "I am in Reno, getting the **** kicked out of me."

Versus Larry Holmes, the action was stopped so the ref could check on Cobb. He asked him, "Do you see me?" Cobb replies, "Yeah. You're white. It's the black guy I'm worried about."

"Earnie Shavers could punch you in the neck and break your ankle".

When Cobb heard what Cosell had said during the Holmes fight "I'll go another 15 rounds with Holmes if Howard will quit announcing football!"

"I stuck to my game plan -- stumbling forward and getting hit in the face."

"They called me a fat, cowardly, *******-snorting, fight-fixing
cheat," Who they calling fat!"

(When asked about continuing his career) "Better than getting a real job, right!"

"I was only knocked out once, by a Mexican bantamweight, you wanna know how come? Six of my pals were swinging him 'round by his heels at the time.."

"I'll do anything to keep from working for a living, if I've gotta fight a circus bear, then let's get the drawers on him and get it on!!"

When tex cobb was on Johnny Carson soon after the Holmes fight, Carson commented on how Holmes kept landing his jab on Cobb. Cobb said "you noticed that too?"

During the referee's instructions prior to his bout with Shavers, the ref asked the customary "Any questions"? Cobb replied "Can I bite him"?

[RockyB]

Not a champion, but great quotes from Tex Cobb just the same.

"If you screw things up in tennis, it's 15-love. If you screw up in boxing, it's your ass."

(When informed that Howard Cosell quit boxing after his fight with Larry Holmes) "My gift to boxing."

When asked about how he was going to fight Holmes by Howard Cosell "Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him"

(Asked about a possible rematch against Larry Holmes) "I dont think his hands can take the abuse"

Asked about fighting Holmes again "Only if it's held in a phone booth"

"Larry Holmes doesn't hit as hard as Earnie Shavers. Nobody hits like Shavers. If anybody hit harder than Shavers, I'd shoot him."

"Larry Holmes didn't beat me he just won the first 15 rounds"

Mills Lane stopped the action to ask Cobb if he was okay in a fight in Reno. When Cobb replied that he was, Lane asked him, "Do you know where you are?" Cobb replied, "I am in Reno, getting the **** kicked out of me."

Versus Larry Holmes, the action was stopped so the ref could check on Cobb. He asked him, "Do you see me?" Cobb replies, "Yeah. You're white. It's the black guy I'm worried about."

"Earnie Shavers could punch you in the neck and break your ankle".

When Cobb heard what Cosell had said during the Holmes fight "I'll go another 15 rounds with Holmes if Howard will quit announcing football!"

"I stuck to my game plan -- stumbling forward and getting hit in the face."

"They called me a fat, cowardly, *******-snorting, fight-fixing
cheat," Who they calling fat!"

(When asked about continuing his career) "Better than getting a real job, right!"

"I was only knocked out once, by a Mexican bantamweight, you wanna know how come? Six of my pals were swinging him 'round by his heels at the time.."

"I'll do anything to keep from working for a living, if I've gotta fight a circus bear, then let's get the drawers on him and get it on!!"

When tex cobb was on Johnny Carson soon after the Holmes fight, Carson commented on how Holmes kept landing his jab on Cobb. Cobb said "you noticed that too?"

During the referee's instructions prior to his bout with Shavers, the ref asked the customary "Any questions"? Cobb replied "Can I bite him"?

Haha! Priceless
good post man, havent heard any of those. now i am sitting here laughing! genius man i have to say. never seen him fight TBH..

[Snopkins]

"Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Leonard was the greatest."


Sugar Ray Robinson on (the real) Sugar Ray.

[DeepSleep]

"Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Leonard was the greatest."


Sugar Ray Robinson on (the real) Sugar Ray.

You got it backwards...

Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.
—Sugar Ray Leonard

[JAB5239]

"Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Leonard was the greatest."


Sugar Ray Robinson on (the real) Sugar Ray.

You got it backwards...

Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there's no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.
—Sugar Ray Leonard

He is ever the liar and bagged once again.

Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr., May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was a professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances at the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

Robinson was 85-0 as an amateur with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts. Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two and a half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955. He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times, a feat he accomplished by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 to regain the middleweight championship. Robinson was named "fighter of the year" twice: first for his performances in 1942, then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in 1951. He defeated other Hall of Fame fighters such as Jake LaMotta, Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Carl 'Bobo' Olson, Henry Armstrong, Rocky Graziano and Kid Gavilan . Robinson engaged in 200 pro bouts, and his professional career lasted nearly 26 years.

Robinson was named the greatest fighter of the 20th century by the Associated Press, and the greatest boxer in history by ESPN.com in 2007. The Ring magazine rated him the best pound for pound boxer of all-time in 1997, and its "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1950s. Muhammad Ali, who repeatedly called himself "The Greatest" throughout his career, ranked Robinson as the greatest boxer of all time. Other Hall of Fame boxers such as Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Leonard said the same.

Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports "entourage". After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but struggled, and lived modestly until his death in 1989. In 2006, he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.

[whatwasit]

There's no question that Sugar Ray Leonard is better than Robinson. He beat the better fighters and won titles in more weight classes. He would also beat him in a head to head match-up.

[JAB5239]

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

[JAB5239]

Boxing Quotes

Boxers have long given us memories to remember... and I don't mean just in the ring.

Tony Galento (when asked about the Bard of Avon): "Shakespeare? I ain't never heard of him. I suppose he's one of them foreign heavyweights. They're all lousy. Sure as hell I'll moider de bum."

Mohammed Ali: It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.

: I am the greatest.

: (after failing an Army intelligence test) I said I was the greatest, not the smartest.

Brian London (on being asked if he would fight Ali again): Sure, as long as he ties a 56 lb. weight to each leg."

Willie Pep: I've got it made. I've got a wife and a TV set -- and they're both working.

Tony Sibson (on being beaten in a match): I figured I'd find him sooner or later but I never did. I asked myself "Where did he go?" I knew he was there because he kept hitting me.

Tex Cobb (on an equally terrible match): When I got up I stuck to my plan -- stumbling forward and getting hit in the face.

Max Barr (on Joe Louis): He hit me 18 times while I was in the act of falling.

Anon (on Don ****ell): He is the biggest thing on canvas since "The Wreck of the Hesperus".

Harry Kabakoff (on Chango Cruz): The bum was up and down so many times I thought he was an Otis elevator.

Tommy Farr: Every time I hear the name Joe Louis my nose starts to bleed.

Willie Pastrano (when asked by the ring doctor if he knew where he was): You're damn right I do. I'm in Madison Square Garden getting the **** knocked out of me.

Henry Cooper was once confronted by a boxing abolitionist, Baroness Edith Summerskill, about the brutalities of his sport. We can all learn from his words of wisdom.

Baroness: Mr Cooper, have you looked in teh mirror lately and seen the state of your nose?
Cooper: Well madam, have you looked in the mirror and seen the state of your nose? Boxing is my excuse. What's yours?

The following conversation was heard during an amateur boxing match in the 1940s between a boxer who wanted to give up and his trainer trying to dissuade him from doing so.

Boxer: Throw in the towel.
Trainer: There's no towel.
Boxer: Throw in the sponge.
Trainer: There's no sponge.
Boxer: Then throw in the f*ing bucket!

Joe Frazier once met fellow-boxer Ken Norton at a social gathering. I am not sure if a fight followed the conversation below.

Frazier: Hey man, what you been doing?
Norton: My wife just had a baby.
Frazier? Congratulations! Whose baby is it?

Forty years after his heyday, an old opponent met Willie Pep on the street. "Do you recognise me?" he asked. Willie looked hard and considered before finally replying "Lie down so I can recognise you."

Sam Langford was one boxer for whom confidence came easily. Before the start of one match he addressed the crowd "You'll pardon me gentlemen if I make the fight short. I have a train to catch." He then knocked out his opponent in the first round and promptly left for the station. (He caught the train).

On another occasion he was fighting a 12-round match with Jack Thompson. At the start of the seventh round he extended his glove to Thompson (this was the usual ritual done in the final round of a boxing match) who was quite puzzled. "This ain't the last round Sam." he said. "It is for you," replied Sam and a punch later, Thompson was unconscious.

While we're on the topic of boxing, why did Ali show more sense than many of his countrymen and refuse to serve in Vietnam? In his own words:

"Keep asking me no matter how long,
On the war in Vietnam I sing this song'
I ain't got no quarrel with the Viet Cong."

[JAB5239]

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

When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.
Mike Tyson

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

As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow than in striking one.
Gene Tunney

Boxing is just show business with blood.
Frank Bruno

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

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

I lost my edge for boxing, I didn't put as much into it as I did before. I didn't run as far. I didn't train as hard. I didn't eat correctly. I started drinking a little bit every now and then.
Ken Norton

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

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

I want to rip out his heart and feed it to Lennox Lewis. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children.
Mike Tyson

It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.
Muhammad Ali

Handball, swimming, running, jumping, basketball, and boxing were as much a part of me as breathing.
Gene Tunney

Life is a gamble. You can get hurt, but people die in plane crashes, lose their arms and legs in car accidents; people die every day. Same with fighters: some die, some get hurt, some go on. You just don't let yourself believe it will happen to you.
Muhammad Ali

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

In the films the good guy always wins, but this is one bad guy who ain't gonna lose.
Sonny Liston

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

Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
Muhammad Ali

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

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.
Muhammad Ali

I love to hit people. I love to.
Mike Tyson

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

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

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

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

When I came into boxing, I brought it to the next level with adverts and doing pantomime and people just got jealous of me doing that.
Frank Bruno

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

Aside from a handful of guys boxing is missing the good trainers, that's why our sport is so in the air now because we don't have people who have the capability to not only train fighters but also train and create decent respectable citizens of the world.
Alexis Arguello

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

Never eat less than four hours before boxing. Then eat only lightly.
Gene Tunney