To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.
– Muhammad Ali
Fighters find it hard to give up doing what they do best – fighting for a living.
– Evander Holyfield
To me, boxing is like ballet except there’s no music, no choreography and the dancers hit each other.
– Jack Handey
It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.
– Evander Holyfield
It’s less about the physical training, in the end, than it is about the mental preparation: boxing is a chess game. You have to be skilled enough and have trained hard enough to know how many different ways you can counterattack in any situation, at any moment.
– Jimmy Smits
He’s standing there making a sitting target of himself.
– Terry Lawless
To win takes a complete commitment of mind and body. When you can’t make that commitment, they don’t call you a champion anymore.
– Rocky Marciano
There’s more to boxing than hitting. There’s not getting hit, for instance.
– George Foreman
I’ve seen George Foreman shadow boxing, and the shadow won.
– Muhammad Ali
You can sum up this sport in two words: “You never know.”
– Lou Duva
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 so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and I was in bed before the room was dark.
– Muhammad Ali
To become a champion, fight one more round.
– James Corbett
You never lose until you actually give up.
– Mike Tyson
If you work hard in training, the fight is easy.
– Manny Pacquiao
I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.
– Muhammad Ali
Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.
– Mike Tyson
Whether it’s boxing, basketball, or badminton, one must be ready to succeed before entering the arena…long before the lights come up.
– Muhammad Ali
I’m not in this sport to say a guy can beat me.
– Floyd Mayweather Jr.
There’s ups and downs with boxing, layoffs are part of the sport and they can either help or hurt a guy.
– Floyd Mayweather Jr.
I think my grandmother saw my potential first. When I was young, I told her, “I think I should get a job.” She said, “No, just keep boxing.”
– Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Sure the fight was fixed. I fixed it with a right hand.
– George Foreman
Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
– Muhammad Ali
If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.
– Muhammad Ali
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’.
– Muhammad Ali
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
– Muhammad Ali
But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward.
We gon’ float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. AH! Rumble, young man rumble! AH!
– Muhammad Ali
To see a man beaten not by a better opponent but by himself is a tragedy.
– Cus D’Amato
Once that bell rings you’re on your own. It’s just you and the other guy.
– Joe Louis