boxers-from-the-united-states

"The Soviet Union did not collapse because of the failure of communism, although it is difficult to call it communism - it was only the path to it. It collapsed because Gorbachev and other leaders of the country tried to introduce capitalism into the communist system."

"Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else. Everything."

"I made a deal with God. I said, ‘Let me die with dignity. If you do, I’ll say your name every day and I’ll do whatever I can for my fellow man.’ I didn’t want to go to the gas chamber, screaming and yelling and peeing myself."

"People say, ‘You always play the mean Chicano dude with tattoos.’ Well, I am the mean Chicano dude with tattoos…So they got it right. They’re not going to cast Marky Wahlberg as the mean Mexican guy."

"Standing on the yard in San Quentin, knowing that there's a riot coming, you're absolutely scared to death with every fiber of your body…[But] you have to pretend you're not. You have to stand there and make everybody think you like it."

"People need to treat animals like they would treat a kid. You have to take care of it, make sure they are happy and they have anything they need. If you don’t have the time, then you don’t need an animal. … I want people to be aware of what is around them. Just because they don’t want to deal with it, doesn’t mean they can shut it out."

"I love animals, always had. It's totally unfair what we do to animals who have no voice, who can't say anything, who can't do anything about it. And since they can't help themselves, someone needs to … I think people definitely need to pay more attention because it's so unfair. … [If you see an animal in need or mistreated] just make sure that you don't forget about the animal, because you wouldn't want anybody to forget about you if you couldn't talk."

"[Vegan lifestyle] just shows a different side of me that I love to express and the fact that I love my life so much and I look into it so much that I try to make everything as efficient as possible and do everything that I was put on earth to do. … Every five blocks there’s a McDonald’s, but there may be one Whole Foods every 30 blocks or every 30 miles. You’ve just got to have the dedication to where you’re like, ‘OK, I’m passing all these obstacles just to go to the goal.’ It’s just like living in the hood and somebody trying to get over the addiction of drugs. On every corner you’ve got somebody asking you, ‘Yo, you good?’ You’re just trying to make it to the bus stop and go to work and live a clean life, but somebody at every corner just keeps stopping you and saying, ‘We got this weed. We got this coke. I got that new s--t.’ It’s the same thing. You’ve just got to be strong, and you’ll fight through it and know what’s best for you."

"It started with me being a vegetarian, and then it eventually moved towards veganism. Now it's permanent. It's a true way of life. As a professional athlete, my diet helps me tremendously. There's no difficulty in me making weight before fights, or maintaining it. I feel better than ever, light on my feet... Heck, I even think with a more clear mind, all from my eating the right choices for me and my body. I research everyday on veganism, learning new things daily, which is pretty cool."

"Many of the animal rights vegans not only demand others adopted a vegan diet, they also want you to be vegan for their own personal reasons. These are “One of those” vegans. … There is a large vegan movement (that I hope isn’t a fad), and many have adopted the term “plant-based” for rebranding purposes. Maybe veganism will never be universally cool, but I don’t intend on stopping. I see nothing wrong with being compassionate towards animals. But not one of those. I’m not the stereotypical vegan. I’m not what people think about when they hear “Vegan”. I’m not white, I don’t do yoga, I’m not frail, and unlike the peaceful people you think of when you think vegan, I get road rage from time to time. … My reason for rebranding? I love being vegan so I hate that something I love is so culturally disliked."

"They taught me the importance of eating right and how it can benefit my boxing career. I went vegan ‘cold Tofurkey’. … Since being plant based, I am 23-0, winning 3 International Golds and 2 National tournaments and can thank my new lifestyle."

"Lately I have been frustrated with societal views towards vegans. There needs to be an awareness movement to show that all vegans aren’t “one of those vegans”. If you’re vegan for animal rights, you NEED to care about how people view vegans. … Passion is hard to control and that’s why many vegans seem aggressive or judgmental. … We need to take accountability for rebranding ourselves and being a welcoming organization. There are so many people converting to the lifestyle and even more are filling their toes in the water out of curiosity. The more people that fall into the vegan diet, the more aware they will be. This would lead to them being apt to adopt an animal free wardrobes, boycott animal entertainment, etc. But its starts with being welcoming."

"Animal products have no place in a healthy diet. As a champion boxer, I need to keep my body in top physical shape. Since I've stopped eating meat, I'm stronger, faster, and... happier! My whole life is better."

"[After becoming a vegetarian] My digestion is better, my thinking is better, and I'm calmer, stronger, and lighter. It's also easier to make weight. I'm not cutting calories though. Last month I went completely vegan, I don't eat anything with a heartbeat."

"That little fucker hit me with a Hadukan or something"

"I will never sell you a handful of wolftickets"

"A gentleman never tells"

"Don't be scared, homie"

"They're a bunch of dorks"

"This is fucking gangster fucking warfare. I don't give a fuck"

"I've never paid taxes in my life, I'm probably going to jail"

"I got nothing against that guy, except that he is kind of a piece of shit"

"Training and smoking pot like I should, instead of paying attention to other bullshit"

"My fight career has gotten in the way of my marijuana smoking"

"Where I come from, people like that get slapped"

"I have used this vegan] diet since 2008. I first tried it when I was preparing for my challenge of WBC super lightweight champion Junior Wittier -- my first world title fight -- and after seeing the results it gave me I have tried to stay as loyal to it as possible. It helps keep my body clean and it provides me with a tremendous amount of energy due to my body spending less energy breaking down foods like meats. This is a big key factor in my fitness. … The energy is always there. I feel so alive. My senses and reflexes are so acute. … With a vegan diet you always have energy, so much that sometimes I have trouble sleeping at night. You feel light. You don't feel bulky or heavy. This would benefit any athlete in any sport."

"I found out Scott (Brown) is anti-union and I’m a Teamster guy. I found out he’s also against gay marriage, and I say if you love someone, you should have the same rights no matter who you are."

"Nobody could work a room like Rod—nobody."

"Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree."

"By the way, I should say, if anyone wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it. I appreciate anybody who wants to tape me openly."

"I'll do anything, legal and ethical and honest."

"I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I’m saying. And if I don’t get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself."

"Unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], shit, I'll just fuck myself, you know what I'm saying."

"A fucking valuable thing; you just don't give it away for nothing."

"I've got this thing and it's fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for fuckin' nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there."

"I killed nobody that didn't deserve killing. In all of these here killings there was no alternative. You couldn't call them cold-blooded killings.... It was either my life or theirs."

"I am an old man, I just happen to be an old man that can fight."

"I feel in an executioner mood, I am going to punish him and punish him slowly."

"Let him leave his home town and try to invade the United States and beat Bernard Hopkins, a great champion, a legend."

"I've never ducked anyone. Bernard Hopkins has beaten people that nobody else wanted to fight — Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver. I knocked out Felix Trinidad easily, Oscar de la Hoya with a body shot, I had world title 20 defences."

"The search for the "white hope" not having been successful, prejudices were being piled up against me, and certain unfair persons, piqued because I was champion, decided if they could not get me one way they would another."

"There have been countless women in my life. They have participated in my triumphs and suffered with me in my moments of disappointment. They have inspired me to attainment and they have balked me; they have caused me joy and they have heaped misery upon me; they have been faithful to the utmost and they have been faithless; they have praised and loved me and they have hated and denounced me. Always, a woman has swayed me — sometimes many have demanded my attention at the same moment."

"You couldn't drop me! You never dropped me."

"You know, boy, the heavyweight division for a Negro is hardly likely. The white man ain't too keen on it. You have to be something to go anywhere. If you really ain't gonna be another Jack Johnson, you got some hope. White man hasn't forgotten that fool nigger with his white women, acting like he owned the world."

"I fought Sugar Ray so often, I almost got diabetes."

"Besides Bob Satterfield, the only ones who ever hurt me were my ex-wives."

"When the legislature convened for its first session in 1913, the Democrats signalized their victory by immediately offering several bills against the Negro. Jack Johnson, champion a few years before, was then in the high tide of his prosperity. He was already married to a white woman, and it seems that in his theatrical engagements which followed after his victory he was accompanied by another white woman who had fallen under his spell. Seeing their chance to get even, racially prejudiced persons brought a charge against him under the Mann Act. He was accused of transporting the woman in the case into the different states where he gave shows. Before this happened, however, he had opened a saloon on Thirty-first Street called the Cafe DeChampion. This place became the resort of the kings and queens of the pugilistic world, and while the common people were served on the first floor, the leading sports and their lady friends of the white race were entertained upstairs, with Jack Johnson as the bright particular star. I was publishing a little paper called the Fellowship Herald at that time and my comment on the opening of this saloon with its "gold" cuspidors was that "what Mr. Johnson should have done with his money was to open a gymnasium in which the colored boys would have the chance to develop themselves physically. He, better than anyone else, knew under what difficulties he had succeeded in getting his training. He also knew that even as champion, the owner of the white gymnasium in the city felt that they were doing him a favor to allow him to give exhibitions therein."...Instead Mr. Johnson chose to open a saloon to cater to the worst passions of both races. When he was not on the road, he spent most of his time there, entertaining the wildest of the underworld of both sexes and especially of the white race. His neglect of his white wife was so marked that she committed suicide during this time. Very soon thereafter came his arrest and imprisonment. When he was found guilty and sentenced to the penitentiary he did a fade away and was gone two or three years in other lands, but ultimately had to come back and do his time in the government prison at Leavenworth...It was shortly after these occurrences that the Illinois legislature convened, and among the first bills offered were four against intermarriage between races. It was clearly stated that these were the aftermath of the Jack Johnson episode."

"There's no place for pity in the ring. Many fighters can't bear to hammer a helpless opponent in the ring. They don't want to hurt him. But look at Dempsey he was probably the greatest rough and tumble fighter who ever lived."

"Nobody has to go hungry today. There is plenty of work for a man who wants to work. A kid can make plenty of dough for himself doing almost anything. I was hungry. I had to fight my way along. Freights and the like, fight, fight all the time. The life was tough, but it hardened you."

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."