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Boxing's A Poor Man's Sport. We Can't Afford To Play Golf Or Tennis. It Is What It Is. It's Kept So Many Kids Off The Street. It Kept Me Off The Street.

-Sugar Ray Leonard

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Boxing's A Poor Man's

Sugar Ray Leonard

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Boxing's A Poor Man's Sport. We Can't Afford To Play Golf Or Tennis. It Is What It Is. It's Kept So Many Kids Off The Street. It Kept Me Off The Street.

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More From Sugar Ray Leonard

I Retired And Came Back In '97. Woo! I Mean, Come On! I Don't Know, Man. A Six-year Layoff? That Was Crazy! My Career Was Relatively Short, Whether You Look At Either Its Length In Years Or The Number Of Fights I Had. But It Was Brutal.

You Don't Play Boxing. You Really Don't. You Play Golf, You Play Tennis, But You Don't Play Boxing.

I Always Expect Unexpected Challenges.

I Fought Tall Fighters, Short Fighters, Strong Fighters, Slow Fighters, Sluggers And Boxers. It Was Either Learn Or Get Knocked Off.

I Wanted To Be Like Bruce Jenner.

Inactivity Is The Biggest Sin In Boxing.

I've Always Been Quiet And Kind Of Shy. I'm Sociable, But I Would Probably Migrate To A Corner.

I've Never Believed In Tying Myself Up In A Long-range Contract, And I've Been Very Outspoken On That Subject.

My Intention Was To Fight Durán Asap Because I Knew Durán's Habits. I Knew He Would Indulge Himself, He'd Gain 40–50 Lbs And Then Sweat It Off To Make 147.

I Wouldnt Change Anything Because The Mistakes And The Hurt Are As Important As All The Great Fights. They Made Me Who I Am Today.

My Ambition Is Not To Be Just A Good Fighter. I Want To Be Great, Something Special.

I Only Wish That I Had Had The Courage And The Knowledge To Have Gotten That Out Of My System, Out Of My Mind Or My Heart Years Earlier. But There Is No Book, There Is No Manual To Tell You How To Deal With Sexual Abuse.

Generally, The More Weight You Put On, The Less Effective You Are.

When I Turned Pro, Muhammad Ali Was Laying Back, And I Was Able To Fill Up An Area That Was Empty.

I Want My Fights To Be Seen As Plays That Have A Beginning, A Middle And An End

While Each Of Us Faces Enormous Challenges Every Day, It's Not The Sins We Commit That Will Define Us, Its How We Respond To Them.

Tommy Hearns Seemed Like An Indestructible Machine, So To Beat Him, I Think That Was My Defining Moment, The Pinnacle.

Defining Moments

We're All Endowed With God-given Talents. Mine Happens To Be Hitting People In The Head.

A Fighter Never Knows When It's The Last Bell. He Doesn't Want To Face That.

Someone Once Said There Was A Comparison Between Sugar Ray Leonard And Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe Me, There's No Comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson Was The Greatest.

I'm A Free Agent. I Haven't Allowed Any Promoters To Have Exclusive Options On My Fight. I Don't Need A Promoter.

The Only Way For A Fighter To Get Back In Shape Is To Fight His Way Back.

Ali's Belief In Himself Was Something I Picked Up On, And It's Become My Own Philosophy

I Think I've Become One Of The Best Finishers In Boxing; If I Hurt A Guy, I Normally Take Him Out.

You Have To Know You Can Win. You Have To Think You Can Win. You Have To Feel You Can Win.

Inspirational Sports

I've Always Believed That You Can Be Whatever You Want To Be If You Are Willing To Sacrifice And Dedicate Yourself.

In Italy, I Had An Afro, And A Lot Of The Kids Came Up And Felt My Hair. It Really Was Funny. I Wish I Had Understood Italian.

Before The Start Of The '76 Olympics, I'd Had 160 Amateur Fights. I Won 155 And Lost Five

Success Is Attaining Your Dream While Helping Others To Benefit From That Dream Materializing.

It Is Wonderful. It Truly Is. It Is The Only Thing That Is Real! It's You Against Me, It's Challenging Another Guy's Manhood. With Gloves. Words Cannot Describe That Feeling Of Being A Man, Of Being A Gladiator, Of Being A Warrior. It's Irreplaceable.

To Be Honest, I Don't Know. I Started One [book] Back In 1982 Or '83 When I First Retired. But I Was Only 25 Or 26 And Not Ready To Write My Memoirs.

Sugar Ray Robinson Was Probably The Greatest Pound-for-pound Fighter Of All Time.

Boxing Was Not Something I Truly Enjoyed. Like A Lot Of Things In Life, When You Put The Gloves On, It's Better To Give Than To Receive.

They Say That I'm Stubborn, And My Wife Says That, Too, But It's Paid Off So Far.

Everything You Want To Know About A Fighter Is In His Eyes. The Look In His Eyes Tells The Truth.

I Consider Myself Blessed. I Consider You Blessed. We've All Been Blessed With God-given Talents. Mine Just Happens To Be Beating People Up.

Duran Always Disturbs Me. The Guy Is Just Weird. Before Our First Fight, Both Duran And His Wife Gave My Wife The Finger.

Before I Fight, I Always Pray That No One Gets Hurt.

Within Our Dreams And Aspirations We Find Our Opportunities.

Look At Football, Where You Still Have Injuries No Matter How Much They Improve The Helmets And Other Equipment.

I Enjoyed [celebrity Ghost Stories]. I Never Thought In A Million Years That I Would Tell People That I Saw A Ghost. And I've Seen A Lot Of Ghosts.

I Was Painfully Initiated Into Boxing, Because The Guys I Fought Were A Lot Bigger Than Me.

Boxing's A Poor Man's Sport. We Can't Afford To Play Golf Or Tennis. It Is What It Is. It's Kept So Many Kids Off The Street. It Kept Me Off The Street.

My Toughest Fight Was Myself. For Me To Disclose And Let Things Out Was Not Easy Because We Don't Want To Seem Weak Or Like We Are Different, But I Learned That It's Okay.

I Think An Athlete Should Be Honest. I Know It's Difficult, But If A Guy Knocked Me On My Can, I Couldn't Very Well Say, I Slipped.

I'm Not Religious, But I Believe That What I Have Is A Gift, And I Respect It And Live Up To It.

I Want To Be Great, Something Special.

Something Special

Bruce Lee Was An Artist And, Like Him, I Try To Go Beyond The Fundamentals Of My Sport. I Want The Public To See A Knockout In The Making.

I Had A Drug Problem. I'd Go To Parties, Take A Leak, And There Was Cocaine Right There. I Was 25 When It Started, Rich, Famous, And Retired.

Aaron Pryor Wants To Get Into The Ring With Me. He Wants To Be Able To Retire, And He Will. For Health Reasons.

No One But Myself Thought I Could Beat Guys Like Tommy Hearns Or Roberto Duran

I'll Think, If This Is His First Punch, How Are The Others Gonna Feel? That's The Only Fear I Have For Myself

Were All Given Some Sort Of Skill In Life. Mine Just Happens To Be Beating Up On People.

It Was A Whole Different World, And Montreal Was An Absolutely Beautiful Setting Unlike Anywhere I'd Ever Been Before. So, Montreal In '76 Was An Encompassing Experience I Will Cherish For The Rest Of My Life.

My Very Best Memory Of Montreal Was The Moment Inside The Olympic Arena When I Was Waiting Under The Stadium And Those Majestic Gates Opened Up. It Was A Whole Other World.

I Learned How To Sumon, From Somewhere Deep Within, The Extra Will I Didn't Know I Possessed. Knowing It Was There, And Could Be Tapped Again, Gave Me The Boost Of Confidence I Would Rely On For Years To Come.

To Be The Best, You Need To Spend Hours And Hours And Hours Running, Hitting The Speed Bag, Lifting Weights And Focusing On Training.

Lifting Weights

This Kid [janks Morton, Jr.] Was So Special, Although He's Not A Kid Anymore, Obviously, But He Was There From Day One Of My Rise Through Boxing. You Know How The Years Go By And Then, When You Stop To Reflect, You Realize That Someone Was A Part Of Your Whole Evolution As An Individual? That's What I Share With Junior.

You Just Don't Heal That Easy Unless You're Young.

It's Different When You Become A Professional, Because You Also Have To Become A Businessman, And That Takes Something Away From It.

Spread Your Love And Fly.

Misinterpretation

I Saw Todd Bridges Talk About Being Abused On Oprah. Something That He Said, Or An Expression That He Made That Gave Me That Little Boost I Needed To Be Open About It And To Talk About It As Transparently As I Did. When I Told My Wife, She Couldn't Believe It. She Was Petrified, Because It's Such A No-no, Taboo, A Hands-off Subject. But I'd Have To Say Hearing Todd Bridges On Oprah Was My Watershed Moment.

Holyfield Is Nothing But Class, And I Think He's A Breath Of Fresh Air For The Sport.

I'm A Competitor And A Very Proud Man. If A Guy Beats Me Once, He'll Have To Do It Again To Make Me Believe Him.

I Remember All The Important Fights. Vividly. In Detail.

I Found Boxing When I Was 14 Years Old. I Went Down To The Gym Because My Brother, Who Used To Beat Me Up All The Time, Introduced Me To Boxing. I Found Boxing To Be A Sport That I Felt Safe In Because I Controlled What Was In Those Four Squares.

I'm So Opposite Of My Profession. No One - Particularly My Mother And Father - Ever Thought I Was Going To Be A Boxer Because I Always Felt That Football And Baseball Were Too Dangerous. I Was Just Such A Quiet Kid.

If I Hadn't Had The Talent, The Networks Wouldn't Have Televised My Fights. No One Has Made Me; I Made Myself. I Paid My Dues

When I'm Not In Training. I'll Walk Around The Streets At 153, But It's Not Solid; It's My Socializing Weight.

People Can Do More Than They Ever Believe They Can Do. Physically, Mentally, Academically. You Have To Be Pushed. It Hurts. But It's Worth It, And It's A Great Thing.

I Tried The Gloves On, And It Just Felt So Natural. From That Moment I Became So Embedded In Boxing. I Found A Friend In Boxing.

Although It Was A Great Accomplishment To Win A Gold Medal, As Soon As They Put It On You, That's It; Your Career Is Over.

Boxing Brings Out My Aggressive Instinct, Not Necessarily A Killer Instinct.

It's Hard To Talk About Yourself.

Boxing Was The Only Career Where I Wouldn't Have To Start Out At The Bottom. I Had A Good Resume.

I'm Not In Favor Of That [mandating Protective Headgear ] Because We Learn As Amateurs How To Protect Ourselves. And That's Why There's A Third Man In The Ring, The Referee. And That's Why There Has To Be A Very Strong Boxing Commission That Doesn't Allow Guys In The Ring Who Don't Belong There.

Except For Ali, Fighters Had Never Been Marketable.

When We Got Back To The U.s., I Wanted To Kiss The Ground After Seeing What People In Other Countries Are Denied Or Don't Have.

The Ricky Hatton That Beat Kostya Tszyu In 2005 Can Beat Floyd Mayweather, He Was So Focused And In Such Amazing Physical Shape That He Would Have Given Anybody At That Level A Tough Time.

When I Was 15 Or 16 And I Started Climbing Up The Ladder Of Success In Amateur Boxing, A Reporter Asked Me, "what Do You Want To Be?" I Think He Was Expecting Me To Say, "a Champion." I Said, "i Want To Be Special." I Don't Know Why I Said That, But I Didn't Just Want To Be A Fighter. I Wanted To Have An Impact With People, Particularly Kids.

I Learned That I Had Character Defects, That I Was Allergic To Alcohol And Drugs, And That I Had An Obsession With All The Bad Stuff. But Thank God That I Woke And That I Had Good People Around Me To Support Me. There's Not Much More I Can Say About It. You Have To Want To Be A Better Person.

I Lay Around And Wonder Why You Were Always There For Me.

Always There For Me

Boxing Is The Ultimate Challenge. There's Nothing That Can Compare To Testing Yourself The Way You Do Every Time You Step In The Ring.

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