Quotes from Joseph Parker

I made the New Zealand team, won medals around the world. I thought, 'I'm blessed. I've got a good talent.' I had no idea, though, how good I might be. But I loved the sport.

My motivation is being unified heavyweight champion of the world, making New Zealand and my family proud.

Never throw mud. You may miss your mark; but you must have dirty hands.

When you take a break from something you love doing, you just feel like it's time to get back into it; you feel like you've been missing out on something.

I enjoy the pain my body goes through. If you're in a hard moment in a fight, there's a lot of things go through your mind. But the most important thing to me is family.

I back my power, and I back my chin, and I back my speed.

No true manhood can be trained by a merely intellectual process. You cannot train men by the intellect alone; you must train them by the heart.

The truly religious man does everything as if everything depends on himself, and then leaves everything as if everything depended on God.

If I win, great, and I'll move on, and that's my goal, obviously, is to win. If I do lose, I have to accept it, and I have to get back out there, train hard, and just move on. It's not the end of the world.

It's good that people are underestimating me. I'm the guy from Down Under, and I'm going to show them what's up.

My parents taught me good standards, and I feel like I'm taking it to the boxing realm.

Boxing has taught me to be disciplined, to be respectful to those around me. I am able to travel the world, meet a lot of people, and make new friends.

It feels good that people believe in my ability, but you've just got to stay focused, keep your feet on the ground, and do the job and do the hard work in the gym.

I was upset about not going to the Olympics. It was a dream of mine, and I'd been working at it for a long time. But I've turned pro now; it's in the past, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Walking down the street, it's a humbling feeling. Everyone stopping you for photos and autographs, it's real humbling.

I didn't make the Olympics, but I beat a lot of the guys that went to the Olympics, so I felt I was at that level even though I didn't make it.

It's business inside the ring, but outside it, it's friendship and brotherhood. I try to do that with all my opponents.

I dropped Nascimento in the first round, but he came back, and I had to dig really deep because he was gaining the whole time. He ruptured my left ear drum with a right hand in the fifth round, which caused a few hearing problems, but I was able to overcome it.

It's an amazing feeling, having a little child. I love it.

Never throw mud. You may miss the mark, and you'll have dirty hands.