Quotes About Adversity

My teachers used to point to the jail across the street and say that's where my fists would land me.

I came here from Jamaica as a kid and didn't go to school, really, never had a great education. I was a little bit bad on the street, running around, doing this, doing that, and always getting into trouble. I was completely written off, so boxing has definitely saved my life.

At the time - but we've since made amends - James Franco and I really didn't get along. When we were on 'Freaks and Geeks,' we were 19, and we really, really disliked each other. He shoved me to the ground once; it was really brutal. We're friends now, and we really like each other now as adults - but as kids, we did not get along.

When I moved to New York, I was dead broke and lost my mind, and my girlfriend dumped me and was with some banker making money. I wandered by Jane Curtin's house, and she's like, 'Come in here, dear. I'll make you lunch. Tell me, what's going on in your life?'

I've earned my living in all sorts of terrible ways - as a janitor, a copy editor, a psychotherapist.

I play a nobody in Japan.

Everything was good when I was in Japan, and then, unfortunately, the injuries started.

If you lived through the shooting of Jaws, you can live through anything.

You don't know what a broken jaw feels like until it happens.

I've boxed on with cuts, broken jaws, everything.

Whether I do jazz or R&B, there are always complaints. I would just listen to the complaints about what I do instead of celebrating what I do, and that I'm different and in my own lane. It took a while for me to just ignore the doubts.

There will always be jealous people and haters: people who assume that if they were in your shoes, they could do what you're doing. That's just the world we live in.

A lot of people are jealous about Man United, so they just keep criticising, even when they win.

Billie Jean just caught me on a bad day.

When I boxed against Jeff Lacy, that was one fight that I was so proud of.

I want to take on fighters like Jeremy Stephens, Andre Fili... get ourselves into the Octagon and see if these guys can bully me.

My high school coach was a bit of a jerk.

I've had a disproportionate share of interaction with jerks.

You'll hear guys talk all the time about coaches being a father figure. Well I'm 45 years old and I've never met my father. I consider Jerry Tarkanian my father.

We look up to Jessica Alba. I loved that something bothered her, and she created products around it and built an empire around it.

If the Lord comes and burns - as you say he will - I am not going away; I am going to stay here and stand the fire, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! And Jesus will walk with me through the fire and keep me from harm.

After I lost in 2018, I told everyone that it just gave me jet fuel, and that when I come back, I'm coming back full throttle.

If you're fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939 and you're a Jew, you don't think so much about relationships. People didn't have a lot of divorces during the Holocaust, for instance.

When I was younger, I didn't have the finer things in life. It was around me - the cars, the jewelry and all of that. But I didn't have it. So I did bad things to get what I wanted. Going to jail never crossed my mind. I wish it had. When I was locked up, my mother didn't support me because she couldn't accept who I was and where I was.