Sugar Ray Leonard

The thing about boxers is that there's respect there. You beat me, and I may not like it, but you know what, deep down inside, I respect you. And that's the code of honor.

I asked my kids, 'Do you know what Papa used to do.' They said, 'You were a boxer, you won the Olympics!' And that's what they know.

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. On the downside, you meet a lot of really bad people in boxing, at all stages of your career.

I watched Muhammad Ali, how when he would speak, how it was such a thing of beauty. It sounded so wonderful. And I wanted to be like him.

Looking back, yes, I made too many comebacks. But each comeback I was 100 percent sure that I would win. I never came back for the money, because I didn't need it. The adulation I was getting anyway in other spheres. But I'm a guy who likes to see how close he can get to the edge of the mountain - that's what makes me tick.

No one but myself thought I could beat guys like Tommy Hearns or Roberto Duran

Inactivity is the biggest sin in boxing.

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

I'm a competitor and a very proud man. If a guy beats me once, he'll have to do it again to make me believe him.

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

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.

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