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

You get these moments in the ring that live forever. That's what Muhammad Ali accomplished, and I hope that I have, too.

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.

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

Being the heavy favorite is not always a good thing because of the amount of pressure on an athlete.

Our idea of fun wasn't going to Disney World. It was, you want to play basketball, go outside, and make a goal. You want to play baseball? Take the old broom, take the handle off, take a tennis ball that we found somewhere, and go play baseball. We were forced to create things.

It's the philosophies of being an athlete that carry me today.

In high school I was on the basketball team, but the coach did something I didn't dig and the next day he looked up and saw me practising with the football team.