'The excitement I underwent before the bout was something I’ll never forget. For a week I trained extra hard. I ran extra long distances. Every night when I went to bed I dreamed I was fighting. It was so clear – I would be going at it hot and heavy, then I would bring over a right hand and he would go down, the fight was over. Then the fight began. Here all the nervousness went out of me. I was doing what I wanted to do. It all seemed like something I had done many times before. And you know what? In the third round, just as I dreamed, I hit him with a hard right hand. Down he went and he didn’t get up. I had knocked him out.' Eder Jofre
"Only two other men have gone the distance against me and tonight was the first time I've ever gone 15 rounds. I don't like Chucho, but he's not a bad little boxer. He gave me the worst round of my life when he put me on the floor in the 3rd round. He didn't really hurt me. He just surprised me." Ruben Olivares
Ali "You think Howard has his toupee on in the casket?" Comedian Billy Crystal " Does it matter?" Ali " Well how is God gonna recognize him?" Billy : "As soon as he opens his mouth, God will know." Ali & Billy cracking jokes at Howard Cosell's funeral.
"It's simple.Styles dictate every fight.I never had trouble punching down to a shorter man.The uppercuts were the reason. I could fight Joe a hundred times and probably beat him ninety nine.But I could fight Ali a hundred times and he'd probably beat me ninety nine. Yet when Joe and Muhammad fought each other ,trust me,it would have been life and death a hundred times.Styles make that happen." George Foreman talking to Jerry Izenberg.
' if i was eloquent with you, you'd still think of me as a scumbag' 'i wish one of you guys had children so i can kick them in their ****ing heads or stomp on their testicles so you could feel my pain because that's the pain I have waking up every day' 'I broke my back....spinal'
Ali on Liston: "I'll hit him with so many punches from so many angles, he'll think he's surrounded" Holmes on Holyfield/Tyson 1: "Evander's gonna take him into deep water and drown him" Cus D'Amato to Muhammad Ali (from the documentary, AKA Cassius Clay): "I'm gonna provoke you, Mr Champion! I'm gonna provoke you to hit me and I'll make a million dollars!" Ali: "Who's gonna cash the check? Your beneficiary?"
"All southpaws should be drowned at birth" - Gil Clancy "Did you find his style rather awkward?" "Well...he fell awkward." - Jerry Quarry to a British commentator after knocking out Jack Bodell in the first round. "Boxing is like a worm that gets inside you." -Chucho Castillo on why he had not yet retired. "What did he want me to do, write him a letter." -Jack Dempsey to a writer after being told Jack Sharkey turned to the referee to complain about a low blow
"Hey, look, he fought the nutty professor!" - Greg Haugen, when he noticed on Julio Cesar Chavez' record before their fight, that he fought a fighter named Jerry Lewis.
One of the main reasons why I love Patterson, a huge heart and a real, deep love for Boxing. It's for similar reasons I was genuinely really upset the otherday when Patrick Day passed.
One of my favourites. David Tua appearing on New Zealand Wheel of Fortune-" I'll take the letter O for awesome" is another one I like. From the same Wheel of Fortune appearance Tua-"I'd like to buy a vowel" Host-"What vowel would you like to buy David?" Tua-"I'll buy a P"
When asked why he didn't march in the civil rights protest Sonny Liston relied " I ain't got no dog proof azz"! When Lightening Ray Lampkin , who had lapsed into a coma was taken out of the ring on a stretcher , Duran said " If I'd been in shape they'd be taking him to the morgue"