The feeling between two fighters is profound. We go places where normal people don't go. You smell a man's blood, it smells like rust. You get into a clench, you feel his strength, you feel his desperation, he feels yours. You're sharing this.
Chris Eubank Sr.
Boxing is the more dangerous activity from the rugby player's and the general public's point of view, but to me rugby is far more dangerous so I would prefer my sons to box. I love my children too much and do not want to watch them getting hurt. This is in no way intended as a criticism of rugby, which I consider to be a fantastic sport.
For lunch I like corned beef, white rice and fried onions, which I've eaten for as long as I can remember. My father used to make it; now, no one does it like me.
I shouldn't be called eccentric. I should be called a normal guy.
Sometimes you can win by persevering, pushing and pressuring your competition.
Most people seem to think I am something of a character and the things that have befallen me are par for my course.
I can slip a punch, not by three inches, but by a centimetre. Just have it brush past me. And raise an eyebrow at the same time.
Benn was brute force, wasn't he? But he found God when he was 40... and the only reason I beat him, was because I was brought up in the church. It teaches you to be calm to be objective and steady and the reasoning I used beat him - and he found it when he was 40. I didn't change anything: there is only one way, to be calm, gentle and true.
It's the only thing that allowed me to win so many championship fights and allowed me to put up with the bigotry of the media, the keyboard warriors, the critics. I've endured it all because, spiritually, I am buoyant, alive.
I went to a foreign land, New York City in 1982 and had no money, no respect in the gym. Everyone thinks you're full of it. The remit in those days was break his heart, get him out of the gym.
I'm a gentle, considerate, giving man.
To be exceptional you have to be alone, that's the life of a warrior.
Boxing is a mug's game.
The Watson fight was the worst beating I ever took in a ring, but I couldn't quit.
I am a sensitive, emotionally conditioned human being, and I have suffered racist abuse.
Boxing? She's like a woman. If you've never wooed her, never won her, you always look back wondering what would have happened had you had her. If you caught her and had a long relationship, you don't really look back. Do I miss her? No, because I've had her, I've moved on.
Fear is what activates your tools; your jab, your movement, your speed, your ability to absorb punishment.
Broccoli is not as bad as people make out. It might give you wind, but I'd prefer to have wind and have good health. Health is the number one thing on the planet. However, I am quite partial to rum and raisin ice cream.
Bankruptcy, divorce, these are feathers in my cap, I suppose. I have a wisdom which has been born from these things.
I admire rugged hard men who play rugby because it's something I would never contemplate.
However controversial Mayweather may be, he doesn't bring down the name of boxing. The fast cars, the jets and the money causes controversy but that does not bring the game down.
I effectively stood on the shoulders of a giant to make a little bit of noise myself. I'm a by-product of Muhammad Ali.
Fighters who speak disparagingly about fighters from years gone by do us all a disservice. It is treacherous.
DeGale has the pedigree that is spoken about in terms of gold medallists and former world champions.
Boxing isn't just about fighting people, it's about being a standard bearer. You become a beacon for the people.
I moved to New York aged 16, and worked part-time in a Korean store in South Bronx selling groceries, bread and confectionery. I earned $10 and it was painful because I didn't want to be there. I also worked in Debenhams as a kid, and a Wimpy in Brighton when I was 20.
No one escapes the long arm of the law, they are a business, they are very good at what they do and eventually they will catch up with you.
I've became a coffee drinker since I gave up boxing. I also love to eat anything cooked by a Jamaican. Carbs like rice, yellow yam, Renta yam, sweet yam. Also salt fish fried with onions.
What can you say to someone like me? When you've got 19 world championship wins, it's almost like you're cursed because you're too good.
I've always had something much more than money, which is respect. When I was champion, people looked into my heart and some said, 'We may not like Mr Eubank, but we respect him. He fights beyond the call of duty and he never quits.'
I see myself as a martial artist. I'm a creative fighter. It's not about hitting the guy and hurting him, it's about scoring points, with grace.
Talent and skill goes out the window after eight or nine rounds.
I'll fight anyone I can beat. I'm a businessman first and a boxer second. I'm looking for the readies. The aim is to win at all costs.
I'm a good man and a bad fighter... I've got the gladiator in me.
My father never played with me. I can remember my father picking me up - once. I can remember my father telling me behind a closed door that he loved me - once.
You play football, rugby, tennis. You do not play boxing. When a sportsperson is in a game, when it gets too much, you quit. But in boxing you can't quit. You have to be taken out.
To be accused of ignoring my roots is pig ignorant.
In accordance to the way that Benn speaks, he is not educated. Sure, he's educated to a certain extent, but under different circumstances he would be a bouncer on some door in the West End and he'd have three kids from three different women... I am a superior person to that. I have finer points.
Fortunately, I was technically skilled, so I didn't have to bludgeon people, I didn't have to batter them.
I was sensitive, I was emotionally intelligent.
Obsession is a synonym for magic. Magic is a synonym for genius. It's a knack. It's an aptitude.
I am not a meathead.
I am always fully in tune with the interviewer, who is usually trying to make me look silly. My objective is quite the opposite during an interview: I never use my wit or my intellect to make the interviewer look silly.
My objective as a mentor, as a father, as a manager and as a former participant of the great game of boxing is to protect mine, but also the opponent. Especially if I can see things which I have experienced before.
Michael Watson is a part of me. It's in my head, it's in my grain. There are scars within me. Therefore, those scars are what allows me to steer and protect other fighters.
The people who have done it - I have been in there - a lot of people love boxing but they have not actually been in there, and haven't tasted the bitterness of a beating.
I've tasted the bitter beatings.
I was a speed freak once. I had an Aston Martin when I first made it big and I used to take it to its limits. I once drove from Lewes to London in 45 minutes - mad.
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
I failed my HGV licence three times.
