The measure of a man is overcoming adversity. My legacy is Watson II, that's what you see, but what you don't see is getting there. I was the gym cleaner because I couldn't afford the gym fees, at other times I slept on the concrete steps outside gyms because I couldn't afford the travel fares, or on the gym floor overnight where the cold would get into my bones. I would shadow box for hours before the gym opened to stay warm, perfecting every miniscure detail of all the moves and shots in the book. I trained in ripped vests or torn tshirts with raggy sweat bottoms falling apart; Adidas boxing shoes that had to last six and a half years. I dodged travel fares to get to boxing venues, or to offices to see promoters to try and get me on shows. I lived off rotten bananas and gone off milk for years, and occasionally 12 raw eggs a week was my total intake. Where others would mug people, burgle houses, rob banks, drink alcohol, (and) take drugs; I was totally committed (instead) to becoming a professional champion boxer to get some money to buy a property and be a good citizen, an honest man. Benn I was me honouring eight years of loneliness, sacrifice, persistence and constant repetition, but Watson II in front of 16.5 million on ITV was showing you the ultimate measure of (a) man; to stay in there and take that most vicious beating from an unbeatable opponent on the night and in front of venomous hate from the crowd and indeed most of the nation, and more than that to actually get up in a fight I could not win. Why didn't I stay down when Watson concussed me to finally get me over at end of the 11th? I wanted to be able to look myself in the mirror for the rest of my life, as I do today. I wanted to look my sons in their eyes, forever more. The fact I won is irrelevant, the fact I got up is the legacy, the truth. The victory came because I was honest. The stars aligned into place from the integrity, allowing for victory. In my teenaged days in New York, when I used to fight in Golden Gloves and Empire Games, opposing coaches would never let their southpaw fighter warm-up in the southpaw position. Then, when the bell rang, they would come out as southpaw and so I'd lost the first round with only 60 seconds to absorb instructions for the second of three rounds. I lost all four fights I contested against southpaws in the amateur ranks, more than half of my pre-pro losses; two others beating short notice fights against bigger guys, and the other being stage fright at Madison Square Gardens in front of 20,000, straight off the street! You're trained to expect certain punches coming from certain sides, and when you're faced with a southpaw, they come from the opposing sides and this throws you off. The southpaw who can hit is dangerous because he blindsides you and throws a hard shot from an angle you do not see. Joe Calzaghe put me on my back for the first time in my life in just 15 seconds because I simply did not see the punch coming. Not even the world's hardest pound-for-pound punchers, like Benn, could put me on my back. Yet Calzaghe, a southpaw, managed to do so in next to no time. Holmes, who stopped Sanderline Williams for the only time in his career, and Logan and Wharton - the only two guys to put Benn on his shoulder blades - were also some of the hardest punchers around and couldn't dent me. What worked for me was circling anti-clockwise, away from the southpaws jab and hook, and beating him to the punch with your left hook against his straight left, since you are nearer with that short shot and he has further with his long punch. This was a tip of Mike Tyson to me. But against Calzaghe I had bad knees, so just stood off and lunged in which is all I really could do at that point. Another slice of boxing genius from Mike Tyson to me is to circle the opposite direction to a mover in order to catch him. I was the first fighter to ever talk about unifying all four world titles. Now of course we have more than four, with the IBO and WBA Super and so on. What was the situation with myself was obstacles being put in front of my path towards unification. These political barriers lets say. Michael Nunn and James Toney were the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world along with Pernell Whitaker, possibly since Sugar Ray Robinson, and I am saying 'I want these men, I believe I can beat them - bring them to me!' Bob Arum said I had too much of an awkward style for his men to look good against on his new pay-per-view station. I signed the Benn rematch though with Don King with the idea that I would face Nunn for three of the four world titles in the next fight, and Toney a few fights after. Of course, what occurred was a drawn verdict between me and Benn and I went the route of launching a pay-per-view station in Europe against the 35 and 0, 6ft2in southpaw Rocchigiani - both a former and future world champion - in his very backyard of Germany, boxing so impressively that I won clearly and fairly on points over there; which other champions like Nunn and Michalczewski and Maske failed to really do against the guy. I then went the route of launching Sky boxing with my groundbreaking £10M world tour with world title fights live every seven weeks on a Saturday night. I also launched professional boxing in the Middle East. Upon my return in 1997, Roy Jones wouldn't fight me and so I faced Joe Calzaghe who Steve Collins wouldn't fight, main eventing the first non-heavyweight Sky pay-per-view when I was on last after Naseem Hamed. I dealt with the very best young Commonwealths in the golden age of Commonwealth boxing, in Benn, Logan, Sherry, Stretch, and Watson twice. As world champion came the very best Africa had to offer in Malinga, the very best Europe had to offer in Roccigiani, and the very best non-champs America had to offer in your Essetts and Holmes', who had in study been robbed against the Asian world champions in Asia, and then your #1 contenders like Thornton, Wharton and Close. There were also some extremely durable and dangerous South Americans, like Corti, who knocked over the great Corro, like Giminez, who knocked over the great Duran, and like Amaral, who went the full 12 with one of the American world champs after me in a lively fight. I never dodged anybody, that's a fact. Do you think Nunn or Toney or Jones would've flew overseas to the Republic of Ireland on St Patricks weekend to face Steve Collins when he wasn't even #1 contender? Absolutely 'nitto' chance when you look at the absolute hell Collins gave the others in our class earlier in his career with his chin and heart!
Love him or hate him he's hell of a fighter and character . He's definitely constructed this persona from thin air but he's become that now.
Sr had a hell of a lot of determination and grit And was a good fighter just talks nonsense these days though
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