06.01.07 – By Adrian Saba: Boxing quotes are delicious. Some make you reflect, some are simply hilarious, others are truculent, some just leave you stupefied, and the best are not thoughtful. A brief collection of quotes for you.
Once, Jack Handey said: “To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there’s no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other”. Deep Thoughts..
“Boxing is a celebration of the lost religion of masculinity all the more trenchant for its being lost”, said Joyce Carol Oates. And she also said: “The third man in the ring makes boxing possible”. Also talking about the third man in the ring, George Foreman said: “The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters”.
“Boxing purists, quite naturally, question Tyson’s appetite for victory. Mills Lane should have stopped the fight before Tyson took a second helping”, said Fred Mitchell. Are you a purist?
“I want to keep fighting because it is the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don’t fight, I’ll eat this planet.” – Hungry George Foreman. Our friend James Toney must have the same ideology, though he doesn’t apply it so well.
“In boxing…you have to prepare for memory loss. I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anybody’s name.” – Big George, once again, ‘explaining’ why he named all his sons George.
“I met Roy’s father once, … And I think that Roy’s relationship with his father is still at the heart of what Roy does. But at the end of the day, he’s trying to prove himself to a father he’ll never really please”, said Jim Lampley about Roy Jones. De la Hoya also wanted to please his father.
“A guy could make just one mistake against old Fitz.” – James J. Jeffries.
“No, I don’t hate Balboa. I pity the fool.” – Clubber Lang.
“On the first day of training for this fight, Mike already looked better than he did when he fought Etienne.” – Freddie Roach, about Tyson’s training for the fight against Britain’s Danny Williams.
“I am really happy that Rahman beat Monte Barrett, … I want to beat Hasim Rahman very much. His mouth and talk proves nothing to me. I think real fighters do not perform in the press, they perform in the ring”, said Vitali Klitschko, before that infamous, infaust, knee-injury.
“But people get these crazy ideas, ..I went on my own roller-coaster ride to gain acceptance from Mexican-American fight fans. It was very difficult and frustrating. There were times when I felt like shouting, ‘I can be your hero too.’ And there were times, like my fights against Ike Quartey and even against Fernando Vargas, when I fought more aggressively and took more risks than I should have to please those fans”. – Oscar de la Hoya.
“I told you. You should not practice football, or any other sport. Only boxing”, said Mauro Mina´s daughter when I told her about an ankle injury.
“Burley was no better than Charles, and Charles was no better than Maxim. But the one guy who stands out -and he stands out in everyone’s mind- is Archie Moore.” – Jimmy Bivins.
“I’m the legend killer. That’s my new moniker. Like Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins had his era and now he’s got to go. Personally, I think he’s nuts for even thinking he can beat me” – Antonio Tarver.
“So I know, excuses aside, he hadn’t faced a real fighter until he faced me.” – Antonio Tarver, again, talking, this time about Roy Jones. Apparently, he didn’t know that Jones had faced James Toney and Bernard Hopkins.
“All the time he’s boxing, he’s thinking. All the time he was thinking, I was hitting him.” – Jack Dempsey.
“Styles makes fights” – pugilistic proverb.
“I do not care about styles. Styles do not mean anything. I have seen every style in the world. I have been in this game for 18 years.” – James Toney.
“Are you up to the challenge of fighting the best heavyweight in the world?”, said John Ruiz to James Toney. Ruiz obviously thought he was better than Vitali Klitschko and Chris Byrd.
“From nothing to everything is a long way, …From everything to nothing is one stop.” – Wladimir Klitschko. At 30, he is a wise boxer.
“Boxing has become America’s tragic theater” – Joyce Carol Oates.