Quotes from Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

Lonnie Smith will be a tough and hard fight for me.

Meldrick Taylor deserves the rematch. He gave me the toughest fight of my career.

I want to shut Camacho's mouth, quiet him for good.

Sometimes I have signed blank contracts.

Everything I have is natural. I do everything by instinct. I am not like the 'gringos,' with all of their apparatus.

Camacho's a very fast and intelligent fighter but I don't think he can handle the pressure I will put on him.

I had it all - money, women, fame, cars, yachts, everything a man could want - but it didn't give my life meaning.

My opponents, they say, 'Aw, I can take this one.' But when they see me in the ring, when I transform myself, then they say to themselves, 'God, what have I put myself into?'

Temoya is a place that's isolated from everyone. You can only concentrate on your training there. There are no distractions. You live life in a very different way. There, you learn to value life, to appreciate the things you have.

Lonnie Smith doesn't deserve to fight ever again. I am totally disgusted with him. If I had known he would run like a coward, I would never have given him a fight. He has disgraced boxing.

I do feel pressured sometimes because I feel responsible for so many people.

I was 10 years old and my hero was a local fighter, Juan Antonio Lopez, who would fight twice for a world title and not win.

I've had a lot of problems with my arms, with my knees.

Whitaker is much better. De La Hoya hits hard, and he's fast, and he comes in with a lot of force. But he has to learn how to fight, and Whitaker is very difficult.

Mexican boxing is very aggressive; you go forward with great heart. The American style is always that you run around, you try to be elusive. The Mexican style is much better. I never tried to be elusive.

My father, Rodolfo, worked as a train conductor and that's how we came to live in the railway car. The Government owned it, and we paid rent on it. Back then I would wake up at 4 in the morning and run through the streets, selling newspapers. I'd scream out, 'Sol, Debate, Noreste.' Those were the papers I sold.

I am Mexican, and people tend to forget that.

I'm an authentic Mexican.

When I fight, all of the eyes in Mexico are upon me. It's a big responsibility. Sometimes it seems I am defending the nation.

I could never go back to Mexico if I lost to Camacho.

I know sooner or later I'll lose.

Whitaker cannot be and will not be the best because he has lost. His style is bad and he doesn't motivate people.

Whitaker is nothing without me. He can't fill an arena or stadium. He's nobody.

The North American media have been very difficult and very critical of Julio Cesar Chavez. Why?... Because a Mexican broke the records of Muhammad Ali.