Quotes About Boxing

Ali's chances of winning "as remote as Zaire

Attention was what he craved most, and he earned it with irrepressible exuberance as well as with boxing.

He said he was thinking about retiring from the boxing ring and devoting his life to traveling and "seeking a peaceful, workable solution to the race problem.

I'm the champion of the whole world," Cassius said, "and I want to meet the people I'm champion of.

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. had always adored his name. He had said it reminded him of a Roman gladiator, that it was the prettiest name he had ever heard, perfect for the prettiest and greatest heavyweight champion of all time

I just said I'm the greatest; I never said I was the smartest," he told reporters.

They called it "a disgusting exhibition of calculated cruelty," as if boxing were supposed to be anything else

Guided by anger, prejudice, or patriotism, boxing's rulers decided that Muhammad Ali was unfit to wear the sport's crown because he was a Muslim who refused to fight for his country.

the World Boxing Association and the New York State Athletic Commission had suspended Ali's boxing license and stripped him of his championship title. Soon after, with a unity of spirit, all the other boxing commissions in the country fell into line. Never mind that they had long tolerated the mafia and professional gamblers in their sport. Never mind that Ali had not yet been convicted of a crime.

Sonny Liston is America's curse. He is the black menace sprung from white racist stereotypes. And he likes it that way.

It was all by design, as he said later. Angry fighters don't think clearly. They don't stick to their plans. They get frustrated, sloppy. Clay knew that Liston was sensitive about his image, that he yearned for respect, and so Clay worked to deny him that respect. By labeling Liston an ugly bear, Clay was tweaking his opponent's most sensitive nerve and perhaps using racism to do it

At some difficult-to-determine point, among middle-class white boys in the Middle West, fights, instead of ending when a combatant hit the ground, took on new life there, the "boys will be boys" chivalry of boxing giving way to the archaic regression of overkill, a term that dates from 1946; every opponent must be spread; every offense, however minor, leads to holocaust.

The punches you miss are the ones that wear you out. —Boxing trainer Angelo Dundee

I, for one, refuse to box without headgear as an amateur. With the rising awareness of concussions and head injury, it is becoming more evident that we need to protect our brains as much as possible. There hasn't been enough research to conclude that it is safer to box without the use of headgear.

Klitschko was the reigning champion for a decade and regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. I'm never going to face another opponent with that legacy.

Music is a great part of my life. It helps me relax and keep calm whenever I am not boxing.

Prior to a fight when I have to make weight, obviously I can't eat all the rubbish - chocolate and stuff like that. Straight after I can relax and eat what I want.

I'm an orthodox fighter, relaxed, fast, and powerful. And I've got good footwork.

In the lead-up to fights, I'm very relaxed, very calm.

When you're in the ring, you're ready to do your thing, but in a relaxed state.

I enjoy boxing, it's a good release. I do that to push myself physically.

I like to box. It's a great release.

I want to go down in the history books as one of the greatest female boxers of all time, and I think I'm on the right path.

My legacy is to put my name in the history books in boxing.