I knew the HIV virus was something anyone could get but also believed the chances were very slim... I honestly believed I had a better chance of winning the lottery than contracting this disease. I have never been so wrong in my life.
Tommy Morrison
I like fighting people that scare me a little bit. People that scare me seem to motivate me, and when you motivate me, you get the best performance out of me.
I am not a big fan of Mike Tyson. I almost idolized him for what he did in the ring - he was such a great fighter. But his behavior out of the ring... he needed to realize he was in the public eye, and there is a responsibility.
I lived a permissive, fast, and reckless lifestyle. I hope I can serve as a warning that living this lifestyle can really lead to only one thing, and that's misery.
I couldn't fart in an elevator without people wanting to sue me.
I remember talking to Magic the day I announced I had HIV. He was preaching, 'Do what your doctor tells you.' Well, I didn't have a doctor then, so I got down on my knees, and I prayed.
You can sit there and worry yourself sick if you're a mentally weak person.
If I met a girl, I'd tell her straight up, 'I might run into someone else I want to go out with; don't be offended.' Was that acceptable to them? It had to be. There were enough girls. They were expendable.
There's nothing more intimidating than crawling into a ring.
I'm going to bring the championship home to Kansas City.
As a white fighter, you get twice as much criticism.
I've had a lot of people tell me I'm faster than Tyson.
Everybody's looking at me expecting me to shrink up and die.
The 'Tough Man' contests were for 21-year-olds, but I weighed 150 pounds at 13, so I got a fake ID card and entered. My dad and uncles had given me an edge, so having a boxing background made it easier because a lot of the older guys didn't know how to fight.
Boxing is a family tradition. The last five generations down to my dad have been fighters.
HIV's never been proven to cause AIDS. HIV ain't ever killed anybody.
I was the first player at Jay to play four years varsity. As a frosh, I was a punter. From my soph through senior years, I started as a linebacker and tight end and was all-state as a senior.
I've always been painted as this party animal.
I'm a white guy in a black sport. I really forget about it until someone asks me about it. I'm simply competing in a sport that I love.
I could always fight overseas, but who wants to do that? They'd really have to make it worth my while.
People need to cut me a break.
I would welcome a Mike Tyson fight with open arms.
With my style, training is very rigorous. You're toe-to-toe, getting beat on six days a week for five or six weeks leading to a fight. There's no fun, no glamour.
I'm guilty of reverse discrimination. I'm white, and people don't think that white fighters are any good.
The rush you get from competing in front of the whole world, there's nothing like it.
Ever since I was a kid, I've been confident of coming out on top in a brawl, but the ring is a lot different from a bar. That's been my problem.
It took me awhile to learn the public eye was on me.
I would walk into a room, and people would be like, 'Hide the children. Here comes the guy with AIDS.' That's very demeaning, and it really hurts your spirit.
I know one thing: Ray Mercer is not going down from a head punch. I think he's got one of the best chins in the game.
I've got plenty of contacts in Hollywood.
I thought I had the potential to be a better fighter than I'd ever be a football player. Besides, it was something my father always wanted me to do. He told me since I was a little kid I was a born fighter.
The heavyweight division needs me.
Ray Mercer has the heart of a lion and a great chin.
I've seen God work in my life, and I know what he's capable of, and I know what he does for his people that love him.
I saw a chance to make the 1988 Olympic boxing team and forgot all about football.
People think I'm crazy, and it's been written in the papers that I'm off my rocker.
You don't knock Ray Mercer out with one or two shots. You have to make him quit.
To all my young fans out there, I ask that you no longer consider me a role model. See me as an individual who had the opportunity to be a role model but blew it. Blew it with irresponsible, irrational, immature decisions.
Everyone wants to see the heavyweight division unified. It'll happen.
I'm happy in Oklahoma. It's closer to family. Nobody expects anything of you there.
I have a bad habit of fighting to the level of my competition.
I cut my hand swimming in the Caribbean, it gets infected, and Channel 9 is calling me saying they heard rumors I cut my fingers off.
People watch me... whatever I do, wherever I go.
Something that comes along with age causes you to simmer a bit.
I don't believe in past lifetimes, but if there was one, I had to be a gladiator.
When I lost to Ray Mercer, I was young. I deserved to lose that fight because I hadn't learned how to cover all the angles in preparation. I was immature.
I'll trust an attorney before I'll trust a doctor.
I will lay down and die before I take any drugs.
I've got the most complex - my life isn't boring. It never has been.
I just want to fight the world. Fight the system. Fight everybody.
