Joe Louis was one of my first heroes.
All the money I have, I got it legally.
I am the best. There is nobody better than me.
Fighters find it hard to give up doing what they do best - fighting for a living.
Put your name on something, it better be the best... you only get one shot.
If the money's right, I'm happy to bust up the other side of his face... No problem.
To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and focusing on training.
To be the best, you need to spend hours and hours and hours running, hitting the speed bag, lifting weights and just focusing on training.
I think I've become one of the best finishers in boxing; if I hurt a guy, I normally take him out.
Joe Frazier was the epitome of a champion. I mean, here is a guy who was total old school, blue collar, who would fight anybody. You know, he didn't tell you he was the best fighter pound for pound.
When I was in the ring, you really saw the best of me. Outside the ring, I was really some terrible fellow.
There shouldn't be budget problems. There is so much money that goes untapped. If every athlete gave 5% of what they earned, there wouldn't be any budget problems.
Not many people do at the age of 21 or younger even, know how to act nor could be concerned with anything other than fighting, women and money.
My very best memory of Montreal was the moment inside the Olympic arena when I was waiting under the stadium and those majestic gates opened up. It was a whole other world.
I think I already proved that I wasn't just fighting for the money, because I fought as an amateur. I fought 90 fights for free.
You've got to have a focus. You just fight for money, you get hurt. You focus on the title, you'll just naturally make money doing it.
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.
Then I received support from the Government to compete for my country, and to represent Cuba in competition.
A lot of people don't know the USOC is not government funded and they are always looking for support from sponsors.
If anyone has followed my career, they know that there's been a lot of obstacles and a lot of ups and down through my career. But day in and day out, and in the square circle, I went out there and always did my best.
My trainer, George Francis, used to train a lot of African boxers. They're hungry guys, man. They've got no trainers, got nothing. They're so hungry to do boxing, to make some money.
