“As a champion, I felt I’d love to live like one. And I had a ball, I really did. I wouldn’t change a thing.”— Sugar Ray Robinson, youtube.com
“Richard Rodgers got me started. He heard me one day and he couldn't believe I never had any voice training. My teacher, Jaharal Hall, tells me I've got to sing like I fight—smooth, no apparent effort.”— Sugar Ray Robinson, thestacks.deadspin.com
“You don't think. It's all instinct. If you stop to think, you're gone.”— Sugar Ray Robinson, books.google.com
“Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that's in rhythm or you're in trouble.”— Sugar Ray Robinson, books.google.com
“I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can lick any SOB in the house.”— Jack Dempsey, books.google.com
“You're in there for three-minute rounds with gloves on and a referee. That's not real fighting.”— Jack Dempsey, books.google.com
“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.”— Jack Dempsey, en.wikiquote.org
“All the time he's boxing, he's thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him.”— Jack Dempsey, books.google.com
“For the first and only time, I was more worried about getting hurt by the crowd than by the guy I was fighting. I got a pretty good blast when introduced. The crowd was hollering and raising hell. I looked around for my bodyguard, a colorful New York character named Wild Bill Lyons, who packed two p…”— Jack Dempsey, en.wikipedia.org
“When I was a young fellow I was knocked down plenty. I wanted to stay down, but I couldn’t. I had to collect the two dollars for winning or go hungry. I had to get up. I was one of those hungry fighters. You could have hit me on the chin with a sledgehammer for five dollars. When you haven’t eaten f…”— Jack Dempsey, books.google.com
“I started boxing for exercise, and on the very first day, the trainer got in the ring with me and said, ‘Whoever controls the breathing in the ring controls the fight.’ I immediately passed out.”— Garry Shandling, esquire.com
“And we know, we know ‘Mr Tap Out’ like to quit, and you will wave that white flag. Because you can choose which way you want to go. And I’m guaranteeing you this. You’re going out on your face or you’re going out on your back. Now which way you want to go? Which way you want to go?”— Floyd Mayweather Jr., independent.co.uk