quotations about boxing
Boxing was on the one hand barbaric, unconscionable, out of place in modern society. But then, so are war, racism, poverty, and pro football. Men died boxing, yet there was nobility in defending oneself.
RALPH WILEY
Serenity: A Boxing Memoir
For the black man to come out superior would be against America's teachings. I have been so great in boxing they had to create an image like Rocky, a white image on the screen, to counteract my image in the ring. America has to have its white images, no matter where it gets them. Jesus, Wonder Woman, Tarzan and Rocky.
MUHAMMAD ALI
interview with Roger Ebert, "Watching Rocky II With Muhammad Ali"
I was the only fighter in Cleveland who wore a rearview mirror.
BOB HOPE
Bob Hope: Portrait of a Superstar
Boxing is the magic of men in combat, the magic of will, and skill, and pain, and the risking of everything so you can respect yourself for the rest of your life.
F.X. TOOLE
introduction, Million Dollary Baby
As much as I love boxing, I hate it. And as much as I hate it, I love it.
BUDD SCHULBERG
attributed, "10 Classic Boxing Quotes", The Ring, June 28, 2019
Boxing is the only sport you can get your brain shook, your money took and your name in the undertaker book.
JOE FRAZIER
attributed, The Ultimate Book of Boxing Lists
Everyone in boxing probably makes out well except for the fighter. He's the only one that's on Skid Row most of the time; he's the only one that everybody just leaves when he loses his mind. He sometimes goes insane, he sometimes goes on the bottle, because it's an intensive pressure sport that allows people to just lose it.
MIKE TYSON
Boxing Monthly, Aug. 2000
Why waltz with a guy for 10 rounds if you can knock him out in one?
ROCKY MARCIANO
"Remembering the Brockton Blockbuster", The New York Sun, September 14, 2005
A real boxer can see Stallone's not a boxer. He's not professional, doesn't have the moves. It's good acting, but it's not boxing. Look in the background. Look at that guy in the red trunks back there. You can see he's a real fighter.
MUHAMMAD ALI
interview with Roger Ebert, "Watching Rocky II With Muhammad Ali"
I was scared for a lot of reasons. Boxers are the only artists who damage their instruments each time they use them. The great artists of boxing paint their canvases in blood, and at any moment they risk losing everything they have forever.
BRIN-JONATHAN BUTLER
The Domino Diaries
Sure the fight was fixed. I fixed it with a right hand.
GEORGE FOREMAN
interview after defeating Michael Moorer, November 5, 1994